Cora Gould: The Mystery of Eagle's Cross (ORIGINAL VERSION)
by Sweetpanda12
Summary: Full Summary inside prologue. Rated T for future chapters. This story is no longer posting chapters - a revised version is underway!
1. Summary and Prologue

***returns back to 3000 years late with starbucks***

 **Yeah, okay. I had to make that joke. And sorry about being so damn late about everything else. It all looks like all the stories that are incomplete are just gonna live on the winds of hiatus until I get interest again.**

 **Well, except this new one I'm in right now.**

 **I've planned out the entire thing. All 19 chapters total, adding this prologue and epilogue making it 21. I'm halfway through this thing and I'm so not going to stop now. I even have a schedule and all.**

 **I'm also going to post this story onto deviantart and tumblr, so check my profile for the links there!**

 **I don't own Eddsworld, only the ones mentioned in this chapter: Cora, the kids and Laur.**

 **Enjoy the full summary and the prologue!**

* * *

 _It's the year 2104 and Coraline "Cora" Gould, 4th generation Cola-smuggler, is finally getting her chance to have a break from work. And what better place to spend it at the family home, where all four of her original ancestors stayed in when they weren't off in their legendary adventures. But as Cora and her best friend Emily Brock discover, they're not alone, and there is more to the house than it seems..._

* * *

October 26, 2088

Operation: Eagle's Cross is about to start. I don't know if I'll be writing in this diary ever again afterwards. If there is another entry after this, I know that I've failed it and failed saving my family, my business and myself.

This soda-free future can't go on.

If there is no entry after this…I've done it. I think. But either way, I have the feeling that I'll never see my family ever again, if never write in this thing again.

Laur, if you're reading this and I'm not home, I'm sorry. Tell the kids dad's not coming back.

Kids, if you're reading this, I'm horribly sorry for what I'm about to do, but a job's got to be done. Jaxx, Ed, Ell, take care of your mum and your little sister.

Cora…dear god…my little girl…

I'm so sorry.

Just be brave for the sake of all us, will you?

* * *

 **Constructive criticism is accepted and please do leave a review!**


	2. Chapter 1

_**flops in another 1000 years late with starbucks in hand**_

 **Yeaaaaaaaahhh...I can explain. But hey, at least I'm actually starting to post something!**

 **The reason why I haven't posted this chapter up for a while is because...well, I want this to be in sync with the deviantArt and tumblr posting schedule, and the prologue had a headstart on here.**

 **Don't worry, I'm going to start posting chapters 1-10 every week before I have to take a break and write some more. A girl has to be prepared.**

 **Eddsworld belongs to the respective owners, I only own the story and most of the characters.**

 **P.S. Keep an eye out for certain references throughout the chapters. When you find them, leave a review!**

 **EDIT: I completely forgot to mention this last week, but I also have an Eagle's Cross playlist, and certain songs will correspond to certain chapters. It may be the one chapter, it may be multiple, it may even be a part of a chapter. This chapter has the song of Boardwalks by Little May.**

* * *

 _16 years later…_

Emily can't stop hugging me as I pack away my clothes and personal belongings into the massive, old and heavy bags that mum calls 'luggage.' An oddly comfortable term, but if it were me, I'd probably name it the lovechild of a handbag and the TARDIS.

"Cor," Em pouts, "I'm gonna miss you!"

"Em, we can still see each other," I reassure her, "I'm only in that place for two months and we have more than over a million ways of keeping contact."

"But it'll be so weird though!"

"What, me taking a break from the delivery business?" I tease her. That's what we nickname our families' job, at home or out and about. It's a comparatively lighter name than the business that Em and I were born into: Cola-smuggling.

* * *

Ever since cola and every other fizzy drink was banned around the world in 2030, almost everyone back then set up underground businesses and still kept the stuff spread easily on the black markets. But to cut a long story short, someone ratted out most of those businesses to the police and as of now, there are only five groups left who supply fizzy drinks to the world, our families being two of them.

Em's family, Brock, is the supplier on all those diet drinks for all who don't want that extra sugary taste. This includes diet cola, diet Pepsi, diet lemonade, the whole gist in diet, really.

My family, the Goulds (and a few of my Ridgewell, Hargraves and Larsson cousins who allied with us), are the suppliers of actual Coca-Cola, my great-grandfather Edward II having obtained the secret recipe soon after the ban.

There's also the other three groups who supply Pepsi cola, lemonades and fizzed water respectively, but we actually rarely get any shipments or information from them, let alone know who the people behind those branches are. Dad says the less we know about them, the less to reveal to the law if it ever comes to the worst-case scenario.

I love cola, I do, but I hate the business of smuggling it. Most days I wish that it wasn't banned, and that you wouldn't be thrown into prison if you were caught drinking it. But since most of my cousins' families work FOR the law, knowing that someone you love and trust could be able to throw you and your family behind bars in a split second is beyond intimidating for anxiety-ridden me.

* * *

I slip my medication and toiletries in the front pocket of my largest piece of luggage before I zip the now-full bag with finality. I then give Em a hug that lasts a while for last time in my bedroom...the last time for two months, that is. When we stop and open our eyes, I see tears threatening to spill down her face as she clenches her jaw.

"Oh Em," I reassure her, "Don't be so sad."

"I'm not, it's just...God, I don't know what it is, but it hurts!"

I brush away loose strands of hair behind her ear with my finger.

"Em," I whisper, "It'll be okay. You gotta trust me on this. It's gonna do me a lot of good. Kay?"

She nods, wiping her tears away with a fist and hugs me again before helping with getting the bags out the bedroom and into the street. The taxi is there waiting for me in low hover mode, driver Jasper ter Voorde, an old family friend, glances at me while he sucks at his cigarette.

"Does Cora really have to go?" I hear Laurie pouting at the pod-home door, "I can't handle school and delivery at the same time!"

'Neither could I, Laurie,' I think, 'And I don't get why dad thinks otherwise.'

"Yes you can!" Our dad, who is next to her, insists, "Cora did it and she's still alive!"

Barely, dad. I'm barely alive from the toll this business has taken on me.

Em probably reads my thoughts, because she yells back at the two of them, Brooklyn accent shining through:

"Oi! She can hear ya, ya know!"

I can't stop stealing glances at Em as she helps me lift my luggage into the taxi boot. She's the closest person who I can truly relate to apart from my siblings, and one of the reasons why I love her as my best friend is because she seems to handle life and the business easier than I do.

"You done yet darl?" Jasper asks with a hint of impatience. I slam down the boot and hug Em, dad and Laurie one last time before stepping into the taxi backseat. As I shut the door, Laurie comes over, looking worried. I wind down the window to let her talk.

"Is dad right in saying that you managed to handle business and school on your own?"

I shake my head, my expression solemn, "But you know what I learned?"

"What?"

"Keep your chin up in front of the giants and let yourself loose when with close friends or yourself. Cry if you have to during the loose times, but always keep an eye on the long run and stare into it like you're going to murder Captain America. That clear?"

"As crystal. I guess I can survive two months."

"I know you can."

I hope so.

I wind the window back up as the taxi takes off down the streets of the pod suburb and into an unfamiliar landroad as the hovercars soar above us on the airways.

* * *

Soon enough I feel the taxi gently land onto the tarmac after the wheels are outwards and the hover is turned off, the car practically gliding calmly on the landroads. Through the whole two-hour drive to the family home, I'm either staring out at the unfamiliar sights of London from below or my familiar reflection in the plexiglass window.

Not that the both of them are what I'd say comforting. Especially my reflection.

Every time I stare at my translucent face in the window, I'm momentarily at peace by the sight of the green hoodie, glasses and heterochromic brown-and-blue eyes before I am nervous at the streak of red in my brown hair. Not even a two-month break from cola-smuggling can make me forget my ties to the business and my family by that red lock of hair that screams it out to the world.

I always want its colour to fade away, to forget that the Goulds (and my cousins) were ever a part of cola smuggling, but my dad has a keen eye. If he sees my streak starting to blend in with the rest of my hair, it has to be re-dyed. And that's an order.

Don't get me wrong, I love my dad and he's a pretty funny guy, in or out of business, and he pays for a lot of things with his own money when we try to use our own, but he tends to keep work closer than his family. Then there's also the few and far between days where his frustration gets the best of him. My eldest brother Jaxx thinks that there's something in dad's personal cache of cola that makes him more committed to the business than the family. Me? I don't see much logic in it, but I wouldn't be one bit surprised if it were confirmed.

* * *

Eventually the taxi makes it to a neighbourhood with two rows of old yet pretty houses, the somewhat faded colours still managing to cheer up the place. Jasper then slows it down to a stop in front of a house with faint creamy walls and a roof and door with a shade of red that must've been beautiful once. Unlike the rest of them, this one seems to be well-kept, a point of evidence being the front lawn not being overgrown. (The case is oddly similar to the green house on the left.)

"Here we are kid," he announces, "27 Durdum Lane. My old pop Paul told me many things about this place before he died, so my old man says."

"How old were you when he passed?" I quickly regret asking as I see a solemn look on his face as I help him pull my luggage from the boot.

"Just a tot. Three years."

"...I shouldn't have asked."

"It's fine, kid," he shrugs as the empty boot is slammed shut, "And don't worrying about paying me either. Your old man covered that for ya."

"He does this sort of thing too much," I blurt my thoughts out, momentarily forgetting that Jasper's there before I hear his amused scoff.

"Pfft. I'm with you. But I'd be the same with that situation and amount of dough. That delivery service has been standing strong for the past few decades."

It's my turn to let out an amused scoff as he hands me the keys to the house in an envelope, giving me a hug before heading back into the taxi and driving off.

* * *

I stare at the taxi flying into the sky until it is only a tiny dot disappearing into the clouds. I then put on a confident face and glare at the house as I pull my luggage through the smooth pavement pathway leading to the door. I'm not angry at it, it's just that glaring at something that intimidates me has become a coping mechanism and a way to build my confidence.

When I open the envelope to retrieve the keys and unlock the door, I can't help but pull out the letter inside.

'Sup Cora! We've worked a long while to restore this place to its former glory and whoo! It's been a lot of hard work!

'Of course, dad has paid for all the costs of fixing this place up, but we've delved into our own pocket money to add a few upgrades to the place!

'Also, keep an eye out for weird happenings or whatnot. Eddie here thinks that the house is haunted, but that may be mid-renovation stress setting in and going through his system.

'We've added unlimited internet connection and TV reception to this place, although the actual TV is total crapola and only plays static. Hope you get a new one in soon, haha.

'Hope you enjoy your break!

'Love, Ed and Ell.

'P.S. the green house on the left is Emily's family home, and we had some reno there too! Maybe you'll be next door neighbours~'

I smile as I place the letter back into the envelope and step into the house, pulling in my bags before shutting the door behind me. Maybe it's from reading that letter, but I can't help but grin as I hang around the lounge and kitchen areas, the red of the carpet in the living room reminding me of mum's special red velvet hot chocolate in the mornings of our birthdays.

I've fallen in love with the place already. I surely need more than two months break to get used to living here. But I can't shake the curious growing feeling that something big is going to happen sooner or later, and it's in the house. I'm not too sure how I came to that hunch, but I can't explain everything in life, can I?

I guess it's a Goulden thing.

* * *

 **Aaaaaaaaaand that's a wrap for chapter one! See you all later with chapter two in hand!**

 **Constructive criticism is accepted, and reviews are too!**


	3. Chapter 2

**...**

 **If I said I actually planned to have chapter two released on Edd's birthday instead on Friday, would it still count as a surprise? /Slapped**

 **Anyway, I will still be releasing Chapter Three on Friday, as well as this one today, but after that it's back to strictly Fridays-only.**

 **Happy Birthday Edd. I hope everything is pretty swell up there.**

 **I only own Cora and the story and a few other characters. Everything else belongs to the respective owners of Eddsworld.**

 **This Chapter's Song from the Eagle's Cross Playlist: When the Dark Falls by The Never Ending. This is to be played ongoing until the middle of chapter 5.**

* * *

The first thing that I notice after a short while of lying down on the couch with my content thoughts is that there's not much recent technology. Sure, I get it. The house is old, but Ed and Ell renovated it to its glory state and the letter did mention that they had a few upgrades to the place. But there's not a CleanBot or CookBot in the living room or kitchen respectively.

I then realise what I've been thinking. Ed and Ell had all good reason not to put them in. It may just be for authenticity reasons, but I'm gonna have to rely on myself to do the chores here. CleanBots and CookBots? Ha! Not even a chance of them existing in the early 21st Century! I can't help but laugh aloud at how dumb my thoughts were.

"She laughs like me?"

The unexpected voice has me practically screaming like godzilla in scared surprise as I fall off the couch.

"Ah! Who said that?"

No answer.

I take a few deep breaths and squeeze my fist before reassuring myself that nobody else is in the house, just me.

Weird...It sounded a lot like someone familiar, but...younger.

But still, I fire a glare all around me, including behind the couch, although it sounds ridiculous. Nothing around. I let go of a tense breath on my chest and stand up properly.

"Come on Cora," I mutter, "Get over it. It's just you."

Coincidentally, a sound that sounds like thumping elephants from what upstairs makes itself known and I roll my eyes at the timing. Looks like I'm going to head up…

* * *

I swear, the amount of weird stuff that's in this attic could actually be named a pile of crap, because all I see in front of me is literal piles of old knickknacks and things that easily 21st-Century people would call junk. Plus, there is dust flying nearly everywhere and I easily get hayfever from it.

My iPhone z22 vibrates in my pocket and I pull it out, seeing it's a text from Ell.

 **'Hey C! If ur reading this now, ur obviously in the attic. Unfortunately, this room is where Ed and I cleaned up the least, obviously with all the dust. However, we managed 2 throw out all the perished food items, opened the window and practically drowned everything in air freshener to make life easier. (Seriously. The smell was HORRIBLE. Ed and I kept taking turns going 2 the loo 2 puke our guts out every 5 mins, it was that bad.)**

 **'Btw, if ur looking for an excuse to stay here for more than 2 months, use this room and dad will believe ur argument easily.**

 **'Also, if ur wondering how the mssg got 2 u while we r at Uni, it was set to be triggered on when u walked in. So will other mssgs thru the house.**

 **'Keep ur nose closed and good luck on a find!**

 **'Ell.'**

Unsurprisingly, a small whiff of dust slides up my nose after reading and I can't help but sneeze loudly.

"Bless you!"

"Um...thanks?"

No response.

But I knew that the voice had taken me by surprise and my fear had no time to react. And I had no response from it once again.

"It's just you, Cora…" I remind myself.

I don't care for a response now as I head back down, find a facemask and head back up before I dig away at the pile of junk. But as I keep digging around, I start to get the feeling that I'm not alone in the house. I can't stop sweating intensely as I look behind and in front of me as I search through the junk, half-expecting something stupid to happen, like Uncle Matthew or Thomas to come out of nowhere and ambush me with a hug or charges for cola smuggling.

Neither would be good right now. Especially since it would be Uncles Matthew and Thomas.

I'm fortunately not jumpscared by either of those as I stumble across a cardboard box with 'Video games' written on it in big black letters. Curious, I manage to grab the box and pull it out to the cleanest part of the room for a better look...which was a metre in from the bedroom door.

With a better look, I notice that there is duct tape on the top going straight in one direction. I'm not unfamiliar with duct tape. I've seen dad use it multiple times when securing cola shipments or tying and silencing people before blackmailing or threatening them with something or other.

Remembering that I have a pocketknife, I make a cut through the centre of the tape strip before moving the flaps out the way to see that the contents are...

...Nintendo 64 and Playstation 2 Consoles and games?

I gasp in excitement as I then pick up the box and rush back downstairs to the living room before I carefully pull them both out and begin to plug them into the TV. For two one-century-old gaming consoles, I learnt how to plug them into TVs when I was around four. I'm unsure how I do it, actually. It just seems to click for me.

I found out that I was able to do this sort of thing back when I was in kindergarten. There were those two exact consoles in glass cases on display since everybody else didn't know how to plug them in. Cutting a long story short, a dare from one of my cousins who was there landed me an award from my gobsmacked teachers and a short-lived job of plugging in similar consoles in at kids interactive museums and other daycares. The ridiculous amount of pay that came from it was enough to move the family to London's then just-starting pod suburbs and expand the business.

Now, the PS2 is in use and I'm on the tutorial on one of those Sly Cooper games. Sure, the graphics are crap compared to today's gaming, but as the day wears on, I can't help but begin to fall in love with the game and storyline.

Then I remember.

Ed and Ell mentioned that the only thing the TV could play was static.

If the TV wasn't working for them, then how come it is…for me?

Saving the game and turning off the TV, I stretch and yawn before rubbing my eyes and wandering into a bedroom with green interior, a king-sized bed and framed photos on the bedside tables and walls.

"I guess I could stay here..." I mumble.

As I drag my bags into the room and unpack my pyjamas, meds and toiletries, I realise that I'm going to sleep in my ancestor's bedroom. Sure, this is the house of the four ancestors that I'm related to, but momentary astonishment hits me: its Edward Gould's former bedroom that I'm about to sleep in.

No, not my dad or Ell's twin brother, the very first Edward Gould, the man behind the name from whom I inherit.

Many of the family tales say that he was a great artist, animator and lover of cola, as well as a great moral leader for his friends. But now, I'm tired and I want to sleep. But as I turn off the lights, leap into the bed and dive under the covers, I make a resolve that I will discover if the stories are true or not, and possibly even more.

You could say that the Goulds have a well-ridged way of finding out things.


	4. Chapter 3

**Yoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Chapter 3 is hereeeeee**

 **Okay this tiny moonwalking Panda doesn't really have anything else to say in these bits apart from that only the story and Cora belong to her.**

 **Don't forget to leave a review!**

 **Now, back to work on writing Round 3's chapter 13 while keeping my head held high from everyone becoming Undertale trash...**

* * *

The next day, it's taking me a few old website tutorials to do so, but I'm making my very own breakfast for the first time, let alone in this place. Thankfully, Ed and Ell have stocked the house with plenty of food, but I can't help but feel kinda dumb for having to look up 'how to make toast' on google. I was seven years old when all these chorebots came out to the public and I rarely saw my parents cook anything.

After fumbling around with the knife while trying to learn how to spread jam on the bread, I sigh in relief at the decent breakfast I've made before setting it at the table.

I find myself missing the presence of my family; Laurie listening to music on her old iPod shuffle, dad going over the news with his screenie and mum always sneaking me that extra bit of bacon when the others aren't looking.

But at the same time...I'm not.

I realise as I slowly chew on my jam-spread toast that I'm not actually missing my family, but rather the feeling of them being around. That one point in the day where the subject of cola-smuggling is not to be talked about. Reminding myself that I'm on a break from the business, I practically inhale the rest of breakfast before washing up the dishes and placing them back where they were before.

I try to remember what I planned to do from last night, but I end up getting frustrated, cursing my short-term sleep memory. Maybe some of the other bedrooms would have something...

Coincidentally, I hear a door creak open and curiosity washes over me as I head inside without hesitation.

This time, the bedroom is mainly blue with a few old 'asdf' posters on the walls, framed photos and a metal compartment in the shape of a guitar, complete with retinal scanner. Taking a closer look at the framed photos, I realise that this is Thomas Ridgewell's bedroom. No, not my Uncle Thomas IV, I'm talking about the first one.

My phone beeps in my pocket, it's a pre-made text from Ed this time.

 **'Sup Cor! If ur reading this now, it's clear that ur in the 1** **st** **bedroom. Im pretty sure u had a look-around, so I wont go into that. After a bit of digging around, Ell and I found out that he had an electric bass in here, but we couldnt get 2 it. (Gee, I wonder were it could be.) Best of luck getting 2 it if u want 2.**

 **'Also, I think Ell mentiond this earlier but Im creeped out by the house. I swear somethins up. Ell thinks otherwise, but call me if im right. And online. If im not…call Ell. Were betting half our savings on this.**

 **'Ed.'**

I smile at the text before replacing the phone back in my pocket, realising soon enough that I'm getting hyped over the bass. My eyes drift to the retinal scanner and I'm about to let my eyes be scanned, but I remember: the original Thomas Ridgewell had no eyes. Yet, he had access to that bass…because there was no data to open it.

There's no piece of black material anywhere to trick the scanner, so plan B has to do. Squinting my eyes shut, I try to move my eyeballs down and back a little into my head before imagining that I'm still seeing. Opening my eyelids, I feel the cool air going through my now totally-dark eye sockets, yet I still see clearly. Moving my face to the scanner, I ignore the urge to blink as the red light analyses downwards, attempting to collect data before the loading noises are heard.

'No data found,' the text on the screen says, 'Access granted.'

As I rub and blink my eyelids till I feel my eyeballs pop back into place, the door of the safe opens and the bass slides out of it from a display. My eyesight is now pretty blurry, despite my glasses on, but I manage to take the instrument off the pedestal and hold it gingerly-

"How did she do that?"

A shiver zips down my spine as I recognise disbelief and astonishment in the voice before managing to put its familiarity down as a younger version of...Uncle Thomas, actually...

"Come on," I pout, "Seriously?"

No answer.

I huff as I sit on the bed and lay the bass next to me before taking off my glasses and rubbing my eyes properly to clear up my sight.

Jeez…I hadn't done that in a while. Last time I used that ability was to scare the pants off one of Uncle Matthew's police colleagues when he wanted to question my family three months back. I became pretty out of practice from there, mainly because my eyeballs hurt after. When I stop rubbing them and blink a few times, everything is a lot clearer, but I still have to ignore the painful and irritating sting at the back of my head for the sake of going through the rest of the day.

I then pick up the bass and strum on the strings before grimacing at the realisation that it's out of tune. Remembering the tuning app in my phone, I pull it out and hook it up through the aux cord before opening it up and twisting the keys till the strings sound perfect. I then open up Garageband to the guitar amp and gently start to pluck the four-stringed electric instrument, holding my left hand in different places on the handle, trying to figure out random chords when I see the guitar pick buried under the tuning strings.

"Way to go, doofus," I mutter, annoyed that I didn't notice it earlier.

I absent-mindedly try to strum away chords like I did back when Emily and Haley tried to teach me in high school, when a small tune runs in my head and through the bass at the same time. It's a not a new tune either, literally a century old, but my mum still loves Human Nature by that MJ fellow to this day. So I spend a while trying to figure out the chords for the verses and chorus, before I hear my stomach grumble loudly.

'Lunch already?' I ponder, silencing the bass before unplugging it from my phone and replacing the instrument back in the compartment before it shuts itself. I was pretty distracted from the feeling when I was fiddling on the bass, but the feeling of someone watching me creeps up again as I can't help glancing behind me when I shut the door and leave.

* * *

The rest of the day is pretty much uneventful compared to the earlier anomalies. But they just can't seem to get out the back of my mind as I play on the Nintendo 64 for a while, especially since the TV somehow still works for me, have my first homemade lunch of marinated chicken drumsticks and dig around in the majestic pile of junk in the attic once more. Until I'm about to finish digging for the rest of the day.

It happens when the shimmer catches my eye. Moving the box of amassed PS2 games to the clear spot, I curiously pull away some of the junk that's covering it before attempting to yank it out. I pull and pull, grinning with grit as I see the corner come into view, followed by reflective opaque glass. When it's finally out of the junk, I'm in awe of the width of a mirror that is framed by solid gold.

'How did Ed and Ell not notice this?' I wonder.

Suddenly, the idea of hanging it in the lounge strikes me and I don't hesitate to start pushing it down the stairs.

A stupid mistake, as I lose my footing on one of the steps and fall to my face, gravity rapidly dragging the mirror down the stairs before reaching the floor and falling down glass-forward with a sickening thud.

Looking up in horror, I feel my heart racing over 1000 miles an hour, my chest feeling like its being squeezed tightly as I manage to stand up and shakily make the rest of the way down the stairs and over the mirror before standing it up again.

I heave a sigh of deep relief as my heart slows down and my chest relaxes when I see that the mirror hasn't shattered into a billion shards, instead remaining as one whole. Then I remember and laugh out loud: the entire floor downstairs is carpeted. Seven years of good luck didn't go down the drain of rotten four-leaf clovers after all.

After standing it up on a nearby wall that's clear of any furniture, my mind leaves of all thoughts of the mirror as I head back to the kitchen and make my first homemade dinner of battered fish and chips. But when dessert comes along, I give up on homemade and instead have a few tablespoons of ice cream straight from the tub. After washing the dishes, I'm barely awake when I ready myself for bed before burrowing under the green covers and fall into a deep sleep.


	5. Chapter 4

**CRAP I FORGOT TO POST THIS LAST WEEK ARGGGHH**

 **I have to say, this chapter was one of my favourites to write because ahhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

 **Anyway, I only own Cora, Jaxx, Ed and Ell in this story and the actual plot itself. Everything else is not mine.**

 **I'm also adding the instrumental of Melanie Martinez's 'Mad Hatter' to this chapter as well as 'When the Dark Falls'. I feel like it just suits the chapter.**

 **Don't forget to review!**

* * *

It's the loud ringtone of 'Bad' that has me shooting up straight from the dreamless dark of sleep. Groggily rubbing my eyes, I somehow manage to press 'answer' and 'speakerphone' without my glasses on.

"Finally Cor! How you doin?"

"Jaxx, really? You just woke me up. What's the time? I can't see right now."

"4:20PM. I tried calling you 20 times before."

"Jaxx, don't bull me." Then again, I suspect he's right. I feel like I have a lot more energy to burn than usual and that's saying something. Having woken up at stupid times like 5 in the morning for the business for 7 years of my life, I probably needed all that sleep.

"I'm not, Cor," Jaxx goes on, "But that's not the point. How is life for you in there? You seemed like you were enjoying yourself with all that sleep, looks like."

"Yeah," I weakly laugh, pulling on my glasses, "Life's been great so far. I've been mainly checking out the rooms, cooking my own food and playing video games from the last century. Also, I've taken the best bedroom of the house: The original Goulden boy's, actually."

"You liar!"

"I'm not, I swear!" I laugh at the disbelief in his voice, much more audibly.

"Coraline Gould, taking the ultimate bedroom of the house and playing video games with static, so from what I've heard from the twins and now you," he says with incredulity, "Dad would flip to heaven, hell and back."

"His problem, not mine."

"True. How's the anxiety treating you?"

"Nearly crapped my pants yesterday, but it's mainly alright."

"What happened?"

"Dropped a massive mirror down the attic stairs and thought it broke."

"Yikes. Did it?"

"No, thankfully. And I'm still not using the meds yet. Em and I still don't trust them. How's uni doing?"

"Meh, boring as usual. It's life outside it that's gotten a bit spicy. Both good and...A somewhat neutral-bad. Em's gonna move in next door to you, for good news."

"Sweet!"

"But neutral-bad is weird. I've been hearing rumours from Laurie. She says that mum and dad are getting worried about Uncle Thorfrid. She's been hearing stuff about a potential shift in political powers. It's got Uncle Thor all over it, she says."

I frown. This obviously is pretty suspicious. Uncle Thorfrid had never been one for politics, last I met him…

"Anything else, Jaxx?"

"It's all pretty recent, so no, nothing else. Unless you wanna hear my latest assignment about atom structure."

"Ugggh, no thank you. So I'll hear from you later?"

"Sure. Love you Cor."

"You too."

After I end the call, a text pings up from Ell and I know what I'm going to search out today:

 **'Thr's a basement in house. Stuff thr might frek u out a bit but ull b ok.'**

As I fling off the covers and start getting some actual clothes on, I wonder what she means by 'stuff that might freak me out.' Had Ed planted a prank in the basement that was gonna jumpscare me?

A sudden noise darts my head to the bedside table. The photo frame of the original Thorfrid Larsson that stood on its own falls off, hitting the carpet with a soft thud. I'm soon becoming nervous at the feeling that I'm being watched by somebody in here. Yanking on a fresh green hoodie found in the closet, I zip out the bedroom and breathe a sigh of relief. What was that about?

I want to go back in and investigate, but I decide it's best to leave it for now and check out that basement…after some super-late brunch.

* * *

After brunch, I can't stop looking behind me as I walk down the long staircase that leads to the doorless entry of the basement. It's uncomfortably dark down here and my heartbeat slowly creeps up faster and faster. I pull out my phone, tapping open the flashlight app and sigh in relief as I find a power switch and flick the light on.

My relief stops within milliseconds.

The basement has a wall of guns.

And ammunition.

And a wide-open secret door that I'm definitely not going into right now.

My chest tenses as I slowly pace the room, my fingers gently tracing the handles of the weaponry and portraits of Thorfrid. Did dad even know about this?

The pre-made text dings in, this one from Ell.

 **'Ed and I reckon that this basement was lost in genratinl memory since dad didn't hve a basement in the house plans he gave us. It was also pretty dusty down here 2, everything undisturbed. But who knows. Maybe dad pulled it out on purpose so he can stash all the more "letters" here and have somethin to defnd ourselves, just in case.**

 **'Also, this place creeps Ed out the most. A few times somethin has fallen down and broke, so weve alwys had to fix it and put it back. Well, I did in the end of the reno. He got 2 creped. Also, hope u have th guts 2 go down th secrt dor. We left it open 4 u.**

 **'Take care Cor,**

 **'Ell'**

After reading the text out loud, the sound of something falling and hitting the floor gives way to goosebumps crawling on my skin. When I turn around to see what it is, there isn't much relief when I see that it is another framed photo of the original Thorfrid Larsson.

First my bedroom, now here. What is going on?

As I crouch near it, I see that the glass of the frame split in two and the back of it was crooked, letting the photo peek out with…papers?

Curious, I pull out what seems to be handwritten notes on lined paper that is now yellowed and creamy with age. Unfortunately as I try to make sense of it, words keep randomly switching between Norwegian to English and the handwriting is a horrible mess. I attempt to make sense of the English words, but all they do is creep me out even more.

'Worried _ _ _ _ _Tid_ fluxes could be changing what's written in stone. My old friends don't know it _ _ _ _ but this isn't who they would think it may be. If they even did know someone is after them. Their pursuer isn't _senere_ _ _ _ _ _ lied from the start on his true identity. His mission Codename: Crossed Eagle is going to be fulfilled _ _ _ _If I don't stop him and _ _ _ _ _venner_ _ _ _ _ I think I may be next.'

Nothing is making sense, but why do I feel that I'm up to something?

 _Crash._

I turn my head to see another Thorfrid portrait shatter on the floor. All of a sudden, the presence that was felt in my bedroom is here and I don't hesitate to jump up and run back upstairs, escaping the creepy basement. My heart slows down, but it doesn't stop pounding for the rest of the day as my mind always ends up drifting back to the documents I found behind the photo.

Specifically, three words: Codename: Crossed Eagle.

Not even Sly Cooper's first boss is keeping me from leaving those words alone.

'Crossed Eagle...' I ponder, 'Isn't that from a 1950's comic book or something?'

Maybe there's a reason for that name, maybe not. But I'm betting that hopefully something is hidden in that specific comic with the involvement of the Crossed Eagle…hang on, didn't Jasper's grandfather or someone own comic books?

"Later, Cora." I mutter, "Think about kicking this boss in the butt right now."

* * *

After defeating the boss, wondering why the hell the TV wasn't static and rage-quitting at Mariokart, the rest of the day is pretty much uneventful, compared to earlier.

The thoughts of Codename: Crossed Eagle don't return until late at night, when I'm about to fall asleep. I frown as I stare at the ceiling through the darkness, glasses off my face.

"Crossed Eagle. A codename. I don't get it, really. Maybe it's code for an operation? Operation: Crossing Eagle? Pfft. Nah. Operation: Eagle? Hah, sounds very American. Operation: Cross? Mm…neh. Not that. But why doesn't it leave me alone?"

Then, something clicks in my brain. I clench the bedsheets from underneath and my palms are suddenly sweaty.

Didn't dad have a delivery called Operation: Eagle's Cross when I was younger? Of course he did! I remember that his 'one-to-two days' trip had been 'accidentally' extended to over a week and he returned home with handcuffs on his wrists, his favourite black coat in tatters. I overheard him telling mum that he had barely escaped arrest at the hands of Uncles Matthew and Thomas. I still remember hearing the conversation and the sounds of mum lasering the handcuffs off his wrists.

* * *

 _"Eddie, you've got to tell me what happened."_

 _"Laur, the Eagle shipment was nearly sabotaged. The cola got through just in time, but they gave good chase. They caught me for only five minutes before I snuck off."_

 _"Eddie, you're a really bad liar, and you know that. It wasn't a shipment, was it?"_

 _"It was a shipment, Lauren, I swear."_

 _"It wasn't, Edward. Don't lie to me. You know I'm practically a human lie detector."_

 _And that was when Ell pulled me away so we could play with her dolls. I think she and Ed were listening too._

* * *

Though the bed is warm and my pyjamas are fluffy-soft, I can't stop shivering at my recent discoveries and resurfaced memories before I fall into a dreamless sleep.


	6. Chapter 5

**So sorry for not posting up chapter four last week everyone! DX**

 **But now, my favourite chapter to write after four: five!**

 **And you'll see why. ;)**

 **Cora, Emily and the story belong to me. The rest belongs to the respective creators.**

 **No song this time, just your own imagination.**

 **Don't forget to review!**

* * *

I'm too lazy to bother with pulling on some decent clothes or brushing my hair, so I'm still in my pyjamas when I start to make a breakfast of bacon and eggs, the heat off the pan fogging my glasses up every minute after I wipe them. I greedily inhale the fresh smells coming from the pan and then the plate as I serve it up with a glass of orange juice next to it.

Unfortunately, the scents of breakfast aren't enough to distract me from the sound of a hovercar landing outside. I leave with the bacon and eggs with a twinge of regret and walk out the door, but my regret turns into instantaneous joy when I see that the taxi has a passenger wearing an unmistakeable purple turtleneck underneath two button-up shirts, one on top of the other.

I can't help but run towards Emily and sweep her off her feet, giggling and smiling before I put her back down.

"Cora!" Emily exclaims, "I can't believe we're going to be neighbours!"

"I know, right? I so gotta give you a tour of my place! By the way, did Jasper take you here?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I gotta ask him something."

"What for, kiddo?" He sticks his head out the window, puffing a little on his cigarette.

"Is there anything you can find for Operation: Eagle's Cross?"

"Eagle's Cross…I haven't heard that one in a while…I'll try. I'll see if I can send it to you past your dad's proxy as well."

"Eagle's Cross?" Em frowns, "What's that?"

"After the tour, Em. Long-ish story. Best of luck with the searching, Jasper."

"If you two can take out those bags from the boot and the back of the car, then I'll be able to fly off and see if I can find anything about it."

The boot pops open and the both of us pull out the rest of Emily's bags and the back of the car before they automatically close and the hovercar takes off into the sky at near-rocket speed.

"Should I drag my stuff to your place?"

"Mm…maybe not. Let's just ditch it at your front door and then I can take you around. I haven't been around your place before, so you've got that to explore once we're done with mine."

"Sounds cool to me."

So I help Emily with dragging her bags to the hallway of her house before she re-locks the door and we run back to my place.

"Wow," she breathes, stunned, "This is so…homely. Ed and Ell did awesome refurbishing this place."

"I know, huh? C'mon, let me show you around and we can eat and talk too. I was about to have breakfast when I heard you coming."

"Oh! I'm so sorry for interrupting your breakfast! It's probably cold by now!"

"Eh, it's nothing, Em. It's better to be eating with two instead of eating alone, anyway."

"True. But get dressed first. It's not a proper tour of the place if you're in your pyjamas."

* * *

I manage to take Em through the bedrooms, the kitchen, attic and basement, explaining what had happened in the past few days. But as we move through each room, nothing happens. I don't know about Em, but I can't stop looking behind my shoulder as I leave each room, half-expecting something to do a jumpscare and make us scream.

I'm about to finish the tour in the living room…

Until we pass by the mirror.

"Cora?"

"Yeah?"

"Is there anything wrong with mirrors from the 21st Century?"

"No, I think they work fine just like the mirrors these days. Why ask?"

"Your hoodie is blue in the reflection."

I turn slowly towards the opaque glass of the mirror, and I find out that Em's right.

Not only that, but my hair is a shade lighter and my eyes aren't there, just black sockets. Em herself has faint highlights of orange in her hair and is wearing a purple hoodie and green jacket on top, instead of the turtleneck and buttonups.

I blink and pinch myself, and our reflections change again.

This time, my hoodie returns to green, but my jeans are khaki and my hair is significantly darker. My eyes are back, but instead of having heterochromia, they're totally brown.

Thankfully, Em's reflection returns to normal.

"Em? Are we hallucinating?"

"I don't know…"

Then, the reflections speak.

"Hey!"

Suddenly, my reflection is normal.

But there is another four figures in the mirror.

And there is nobody next to the two of us looking into it.

We scream.

* * *

They're all dressed in a plain hoodie-and-jeans outfit, but their hoodies are different colours and the one in purple has a green overcoat on top of his hoodie. The one in a green hoodie speaks up first after our screams, raising his hands, trying to calm us down from our shock.

"Whoa, wait! I can explain!"

"Did you really have to scare the flip out of us to give an explanation, you…whatever you are!" Em exclaims, anger and fear evident in her voice. However, my fear of the four starts to die down as I realise that they look…familiar, in a sense. Purple's ginger hair and Blue's lack of eyes are two of the things that have my memory jogging.

"They think we're ghosts, Edd." Red deadpans, his Norwegian accent clear. My jaw drops open. I exchange a glance with Em in momentary confusion.

I swear she reads my mind, because she whispers "Play along, we'll figure it out later."

I quickly nod before pointing at Red,

"Wait. You in the red, you're Thorfrid Larsson, are you?"

"One and only." He seems pretty pleased that I've recognised him first, "But call me Tord."

"You in the purple. Is your name Matthew Hargraves? Matt?"

"That's me!"

"Oi, no-eyes. You're Thomas Ridgewell, right?"

"Call me Tom. And the greenie over here is-"

"Edd Gould, if his full name is Edward." I finish.

Em doesn't hesitate on introducing us, whereas I would've been stuttering like an idiot.

"I'm Emily. And the one who's staying here is my best friend Coraline, or Cora for short. And we're going to lame-guess that you're haunting this place."

"Well, I wouldn't say haunt," Tom shrugs, "I'd rather say…chill here, more rather. And we chill here a lot."

"Do you usually scare the flip out of people when you 'chill' here?" Em asks, eyebrow raised.

"If they get obnoxious, then yeah, we do." Tord admits, "There were twins here the weeks before and that boy was a little too much for us."

"That was my brother and sister!" I exclaim, "That reminds me, he's won the bet against Ell."

"What bet?" Em asks.

"Er…that's a long story."

"So," Edd finally speaks up again, "If you two just wanna go on with your day, that's fine. You just have to get used to the four of us popping up a lot in the mirrors around the place."

"I thought it would be just this one mirror," I admit, "But if Em and I find any mirrors in the attic, d'you think it's alright if we put them around the house so we can properly see you without you scaring us?"

"That's not a bad idea, actually." Tom grins, "For once Matt's narcissism makes life easier for all of us."

"Hey!"

"It's true!"

I gently nudge Em while the four start to talk amongst themselves within the giant mirror.

"D'you think you can stay with me tonight?"

"Two things, Cor. One, if we end up sharing the bed like back in our sleepovers, we're fully clothed for that. And two, you have to come to my place to sleep it tomorrow night."

"Deal."

But as the rest of the day wears on and we start to become acquainted with the foursome, I'm still not over the fact that I'm sharing the same house as my ancestors.

Literally.


	7. Chapter 6

**...to think I nearly did NOT post this chapter because I was so tired :'D**

 **The song that's going through this chapter and up to 9 is Minty by Volant!**

 **I only own Cora, Emily and this plot! Nothing else belongs to me.**

 **Don't forget to review!**

* * *

 _One week later…_

"My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard, and they're like-"

"Matt, shut up!" I growl at the ghostly ginger standing next to my bed and I don't hesitate to throw my pillow at his face. Sadly, it doesn't hit him and instead goes straight through to the floor.

Since Em and I first met Edd, Tom, Matt and Tord, we've been talking a fair bit to them, making conversation about what our lives are like in this 'future' world (Apparently they still thought it was the 21st Century). Two days after finding those guys, Em used the mirror technique in her house to discover that three of her ancestors 'chilled' there too; Eduardo, Mark and Jon.

Since, we've been visiting each other's places on alternating days, today being one where I to head to Emily's. Also, all seven of the 'ghosts' have started to move onto face-to-face conversation more often, which is kinda hard when all that you can see is a near-transparent figure after being used to seeing them opaque in front of reflective glass.

"Hey!" Matt protests, "It's a day where you're with Em, right? I was trying to wake you up."

"Matt, I'll be honest with you. You succeeded because your singing is so bad it sounds like a crossbreed of a cat and a whale dying."

I hear Edd, Tom and Tord lose it laughing in the living room and I think Tord is crying from it. Did I just have a remark that bad? So much for honesty.

"But hey," I reassure the ginger, "A little practice every day doesn't hurt. Goes a long way actually. Sorry for being so _deathly_ honest with you. Now can you please get out my room so I can get dressed?"

"…was that a pun?"

"Just get out." I don't know how I'm able to contain my smirks and giggles until Matt's out the room and I'm throwing on my clothes. Ah well, at least he's a good alarm clock with that voice.

* * *

Within 15 minutes I'm dressed and have had a bite to eat before I start making my way to Emily's in the not-so-usual way…by attempting to leap over the fence and falling on my face, grass now being in my eyesight, my glasses somehow unbroken.

"What was that loser thing you were trying to do?" The Brooklyn accent of Eduardo is what turns my face away from the plant life and into his translucent figure, his hands on hips.

"Uh…parkour?"

"Pfft. Emily could do better than that."

"Why do you think she's my best friend?"

"Hmph. What's the plan today?"

"Beats me." I then spot Emily opening a window and leaning out of it before she waves at the both of us just as an idea pops up, "Hey Em! Wanna binge-watch the entire Star Wars saga?"

"Cor!" She calls back, "I was gonna ask you that! Jon's been practically begging to see it!"

"Well, at least three of us are nerds for space."

"Not me," Eduardo mutters, "I'd rather listen to Fall Out Boy."

"You will be a nerd like the rest of us by the time we're done," I retort, "Mark as well. The third one is called Mark, right?"

"Course, Cora."

"Well, I guess I better make an _enter-esting_ entrance, eh Eduardo?" I don't hesitate to hide my smirk or giggles as the said 'ghost' facepalms.

"Cor, that was horrible." Em laughs.

"You're picking it up off that loser Edd, are you?"

"Nah, I was already good at puns."

* * *

Given a few hours consisting of staring at six episodes of the saga, 12 toilet breaks, Em and I gorging ourselves stupid on pop tarts and almost countless moments of internal pterodactyl screeching, I'm proven right: All three of Emily's ancestors are in love with Star Wars and are now begging for more. Em and I however are firm.

"Tomorrow."

"But Em's at Cora's tomorrow!" Jon pouts.

"The day after then." I reply, "You're all gonna have to wait."

"Y'know, for century-old 'ghosts', you guys do have a tendency to act like five-year-olds." Em remarks.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHH!" I yell, leaping off the couch, "Burn!"

Eduardo, to our surprise, faints before waking up 5 minutes later. Mark has an eyebrow raised at Em and Jon's jaw is practically on the floor. Emily just looks ridiculously pleased with herself.

"What now?" She asks.

"MarioKart tournament at my place?"

"Will Edd and the others let my boys in?"

"I'll convince him. Trust me. They're gonna love a good tournament and they'll be betting so much it'll be ridiculous. And of course they're gonna love a Rainbow Road race."

"I'm gonna murder you on that track."

"Sure you will," I tease, winking.

* * *

Per my expectations, the crew are eager to let their rivals into the house once I mention the MarioKart tournament.

The rest of the day passes as a joyful blur: me and Em racing each other on the Nintendo as our ancestors cheer us on and take bets before the rare dual win, then the after-party in the basement, 1980's music blaring out of speakers found in Matt's junk-piled attic.

Em and I sit out from the music for a short time, our arms around eachothers' shoulders and we start talking about what's going on with the 'ghosts' as the seven ancestors bust out bad dance moves to 'Power of Love.'

"I don't think those guys are really ghosts." I sigh, catching my breath.

"Maybe not," Em agrees, "I've actually stuck my hand through my crew and noticed they seemed to have something like…a glitched image of themselves for a split second before they keep moving on. They didn't even notice it."

"Glitched? You mean like, pixelated? D'you think they're holograms?"

"But there is no way sentient holograms exist, either. So lifelike and human. Have you not seen the multiple times people have tried to do stuff like that? They failed and stuff got crazy."

Em's right. Not only had it been a classic trope in old sci-fi novels and movies, but it was proven back in 2060. Some dude had tried to make an android so much like a human, with emotions, desires and a sense of knowledge, but 47 years of his research went to waste when a few months later, the android was broken down into scraps because it killed some kid without regret. There was some crazed debate over whether sentient AI would co-exist with us, and multiple sci-fi fans attempted to secretly recreate the guy's original android. When they released them to the public, they rapidly all went haywire and had to be shut down. Even Ed, who was studying robotics at Uni, knew there was next to no chance of making a sentient AI.

"Maybe they're like, puppets." I shrug, "They could all be played by my dad and uncles and your dad and relatives for all I know, willing to peer into our private lives without our knowledge." I suddenly feel my heartbeat rise up a little bit faster at the thought.

Em ponders this for a short while.

"It's not a nice thought or possibility, but that's theory one."

"What's theory two?"

"They're actually ghosts."

"Nope. Theory three?"

"Em, Cora! You two gonna dance again?" Edd calls from the sidelines, the music changing to 'Workin Day and Night.'

"This song's like, from the 1970's!" Emily yells back over the noise as she stands before pulling me up, "I thought this was an 80's party?"

"Em, let's just get on the floor and groove. I like this song a lot anyway."

At the end of the day however, nothing is of more relief to me than the feeling of not bothering to change into pyjamas before flopping still fully-clothed into a deep sleep on top of plush blankets.


	8. Chapter 7

**Ah yes, chapter seven. Where everything starts to roll and the mystery is starting to be found.**

 **Huh. Hard to believe I have another three weeks of posting up Round Two of my schedule and I'll be on a break again. Mainly to give myself a break from this story and collect myself, but also to write the chapters for Round Four: 16-18. (I haven't even finished writing up the last of Round Three yet, i still need to do 15 lmao)**

 **I own nothing except for this plot, Cora and Emily! Constructive criticism accepted!**

* * *

"Y'know Cor?"

"Yeah?"

"The only bad thing about this trilogy is the special effects. Look at those things and compare them to what we have now!"

"Hey! I take offence to that, the effects are awesome!" Edd protests and I can't help but agree.

"They look pretty cool, actually. Just look at those neons!"

"Cora, seriously."

"Seriously!"

Today is a day where Emily spends the hours at my place and we're all watching the Back to the Future Trilogy on Netflix after Em discovered the unlimited internet and TV reception.

At the moment though, Emily is trying to start a debate with us, starting with the special effects, but I'm not falling for that.

"Can we all shut it? Stuff's about to get good."

Almost on cue, my phone goes off, the ping signifying that I have new emails as I roll my eyes in exasperation. Emily sniggers, but I don't mind.

"Nice timing," She grins, pausing the film as I pull out my iPhone and my crew peers at it from over my shoulders, "Who's it from?"

"It's Laurie!" I exclaim, "I hope she's doing okay…"

I open up the email and the six of us read together.

'Cor, Laurie here, obvs. Everything's cool there, right? I really hope so, because at least you're not going through the stuff back here.'

I frown. Jaxx did mention something like that a while back…

'There's been a Big-L bust-in at home led by Uncle Thor, according to the cams and dad, who was there at the time. Lucky for us, none of the letters or their traces were taken or found, but Uncle L mentioned something about a cross and an eagle, according to the cams.'

My heart pace begins to rise as the next part confirms what I think is happening.

'Dad's started to look through his old diaries after that and he's going paranoid whenever someone mentions an eagle or cross. I tried asking, but he just kept mumbling how the past as catching up with him and how he had to find that one diary.

'I'm also trying to make a start on an investigation for this with some of the Ridgies, Harts and L's on our side since of course they'd have some skills from their dads. I'm still wary of Lucky L, though. He's in, but I'm giving very little to him because he's kinda shifty when we deliver letters.'

"Who are those guys?" Matt asks curiously, "Ridgies, Harts and L's?"

"Later, Matt." I cut off before we continue reading.

'I'll be honest: I think Lucky might be the mole. It's not all clear on who the mole is for, us or the Big L, but all I'm gonna get Lucky to do for this eagle and cross thing is the stuff that's not necessary. Y'know, let him play games, boring files to organise, that sort of thing.

'Also, Uncle Thor's sudden interest in the Big L and politics is creeping me out. It's disturbing to the whole family really, even the Ridgies and Harts who aren't with us are trying to keep off from him. It's all the more weird when he said he'd permanently retire 6 years ago.

'I would go on and on Cor, really. But I have letters to pack and send and they aren't gonna keep waiting any longer. Hope you reply and say hi to Em for me!

'Laurie.'

"Uncle Thor's going back into the Big L?" Emily asks with astonishment, only to be replied with an equally stunned shrug from me.

"This is confusing!" Matt exclaims, clutching his head.

"Yeah, what's with all the weird talk about mail and Harts and Ridgies?" Tom furthers on. An idea suddenly pops into my head.

"You're allowed to ask four questions, but there's only one from each of you," I decide, "Who's first?"

"What's with all the mail talk?" Tord asks.

"We really don't send letters, it's a substitute subject matter to cover up the real job of cola-smuggling," Emily explains, "Ever since it became illegal back in 2030, our families use that a lot, even online because we're wary that someone on the internet might be stalking into things that are private and we could easily be thrown into prison, or worse."

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh." A collective verbal realisation is heard from the four 'ghosts' before Tom asks the next question.

"Who's Lucky and Thor and who are the L's, Harts and Ridgies?"

My chest tenses and I squeeze my hands into fists, but I take a deep breath and manage to reply without stuttering.

"I'm not comfy with saying who those three groups really are, but I can say that I'm somewhat-distantly related to them and my direct family has the nickname of Golding. My dad is Golding and L descent and my mum is Ridgie and Hart descent, so my siblings and I are a sort of ultimate combination of the four groups. Em's not related to me, but we still nickname her family the Bakers because her grandma used to own a famous bakery. As for Lucky L, his real name is Felix, but since he's Norweigan descent we nickname him Lucky because of translation reasons. Thor is Felix's dad and yes, it's a nickname. I'm not comfy with revealing the full name yet. And yes, I am partially Norweigan because my dad has that descent, but I don't really know that many words from the language. Also, we nickname the police and the law authorities as the Big L so that we don't get confused with my relatives."

"Huh. So till you're comfy with telling us with who these guys really are we'll call you Coraline Golding and Emily Baker." Tom remarks, and I nod with a nonchalant shrug.

"What kinds of cola do you deal with?" Matt's curiosity piques.

"Well, Cor's is cherry and regular coca-cola and all that, since her great-grandpa took the original recipes soon after the ban. My family deals with everything diet: diet cola, diet lemonade, diet Pepsi, that sort of thing."

"Poor you," Edd sighs in sympathy, "To be stuck delivering and drinking diet cola."

"It's not all that bad," Em snickers, "I like having regular cola too, but it's even when it comes to deciding between the two. There's also another three families who deal with Pepsi, lemonade and fizzed water respectively, but we rarely get any deliveries from those guys."

"I would ask about what happened to Dr. Pepper, but the thing is…why are you guys here?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, why are you here in Durdum Lane in the first place?"

"My dad has the owning rights to this house and Em's parents with hers. We were having a rough time with all those deliveries and all that trouble of keeping it hidden when our parents finally noticed that we needed a decent break. So my brother and sister took to renovating this place to its glory state and dusted off the rest of the budget on Emily's place. Em and I are gonna stick around for two months before we have to head back to the pod suburbs for work." I manage out in one breath before panting for air.

"Also, Dr. Pepper got busted 12 years ago. Cor, remember the trial?"

"So staged," I laugh at the memory, "Even when we were six we could tell how dramatic it was. Wasn't your dad bawling his eyes out every time he saw it?"

"Nah, that was yours. Jaxx's face when he saw the judge though."

I giggle as I remember the screwed-up look on my then-11-year-old older brother whenever he saw the infamous Judge McCoy, but I'm stopped when Tord raises his hand.

"You're getting off-topic-"

"Sorry."

"No no, it's fine, but you did notice the documents I knocked to the floor back in the basement, right? The ones behind the photo frame?"

"So it was you!" I exclaim, "You're the one that got me searching up on Eagle's Cross!"

"You read them, right?"

"Barely. The handwriting's a mess and I can tell that it keeps changing between Norweigan and English, but there isn't really that much to read, no." I shake my head.

"Tell you what: We'll help you with the research on Eagle's Cross-"

"All of you?"

"Tord, you can't be ser-"

"Yes, all of us – if you give us a starting point on what we're looking for. My diary pages aren't expected to hold all the answers."

"You wrote those?!"

"What's the starting point?"

"Hold up," Em butts in, "Isn't Eagle's Cross mentioned in a comic or something?"

A ping from my phone and a quick read-through from Jasper's recent email confirms it: the mention of Eagle's Cross was a biblical mention alongside John the Baptist in the Tintin arc of Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure. However, it's all that he can send to me through the permission of dad's proxy. When Em peeks over my shoulder and reads the email, her face lights up.

"I read those books a million times before!" She exclaims, "At the end of the arc, the treasure was found in Marlinspike, the captain's family home, not the shipwreck of the Unicorn."

"So?"

She opens her mouth to say something, but hesitates for a second before going ahead; she became close to blurting out something that I didn't want out yet.

"So what if your dad has some sorts of connections to this place, apart from rights? It might or might not be ancestral like Haddock's, but the Operation could've been named Eagle's Cross because your dad had something to hide within this place? Like the treasure?"

The boys' jaws drop to the floor. My heartbeat speeds up in excitement and I feel a grin split across my face.

"Emily, you're a genius! We gotta write this down! And other possibilities too!"

"That's a pretty good start," Tom whistles appreciatively, "But we're…y'know. How are we gonna research?"

"Don't be ridiculous Tom," I retort, "If Tord knocked down that frame in the basement, then of course you should be able to knock down files or books or mess with the computers to get something up. Let's get down to business."

Me, Em, Tord and Matt stand up and start to leave the living room, but I stay back behind a wall with my neighbour when a convo between Edd and Tom pique our interest.

"Edd, did you notice something about those two?"

"What are you talking about?"

"There's definitely a few things that those girls aren't telling us-"

"They don't want to explain it right now Tom, give it a rest-"

"Edd, they act like they know something on why we're…like this."

"Look, just keep up the act and we'll all figure this out later."

Em and I exchange a glance before we head to the attic, pull out empty notebooks and pens and begin writing the possibilities and theories of Eagle's Cross and dad's secret behind it. I give her a worried look for a moment and she puts a finger to her lips before continuing to write in the notebook.

 _Not now, Cor. We gotta make 'em believe we're falling for this._

* * *

A few hours later, Em and I are rubbing our hands to try and relieve the pain from them after writing so much. Printed websites, dusty diaries and age-creamed documents are everywhere on the kitchen table and Matt is dizzy from messing with the 22nd century internet for so long. At least he's pretty dedicated.

However, all we can manage to properly gain from the research is:

· Dad is hiding something in or under the house, and he's probably got some pretty deep connections to it too.

· He sees Operation: Eagle's Cross as some sort of saving grace from something – what is it?

· There's something about fluxes and watches going on with Eagle's Cross too, according to Tord's notes that he translated.

"Ugh," Emily groans, "My brain hurts, Cor. I'm tired."

"So am I," I yawn, "Tell your crew about this tomorrow because I'm intending to drag everyone we want into this. But get some rest for now Em. I'll head to bed as well."

After Em leaves, I head to the bathroom and start to brush my teeth, rubbing my sore and tired eyes with the other hand as I notice Edd walk in.

"What are you doing in here?"

"Just wanted to say g'night, Cor."

"That's sweet of you. Thanks." I respond sleepily, turning around to face his outline when I frown and notice something.

"Is anything wrong?"

"Is it me, or are you nearly opaque without that mirror?"

"…Stone the cans. I am! The others might be too, I think."

"Nice. All those mirrors flashing lights into my eyes are getting kinda annoying. G'night Edd."

"Night. Sweet dreams."

You too, gramps.


	9. Chapter 8

**Ah yes, the chapter where we hang out with Em's boys instead of Cora's. Plus, there's some unusual news coming from home...**

 **Anyway, I only own the plot, a few mentioned characters, Cora and Emily!**

 **Constructive feedback, as always, is acceptable!**

* * *

Today's a day where I spend it at Emily's, and as I asked a few days before, she has dragged her ancestors into researching for Eagle's Cross too.

"Ugh, my head hurts from this lame amount of reading..." Eduardo groans, clutching his head.

"Mine too, but trust me on this one," Em admits, "It'll do us a whole lot of good for our brains."

"What, so that zombies will enjoy the taste of our intelligence?" I sarcastically remark, rubbing my eyes before staring at the undead human I've doodled in between notes, alongside the city border and a silhouette of a running man and his dog.

"That too," Em snickers, "D'you have any new ideas for this thing?"

I sit up straight and skim through my notes on Eagle's Cross so far:

· Possible files or whatnot could be found behind the secret door in the basement...once we get the courage to actually go down there.

· Something may have been stolen from dad before, like in Secret of the Unicorn, hence a reason for the name 'Eagle's Cross.'

· Weird receipts were found thanks to Tom. Found in the Tord photo in my bedroom. The ink is mainly faded, but a date is still pinpointed when something was bought: 20th October 2088.

I slide my notebook across to Em before resting my head on the table and sighing in the relief while closing my eyes.

"Cor?" She asks.

"Yeah?" I manage out, muffled.

"Did you draw all of this while notetaking?"

I shrug as I sit up and stretch while yawning.

"I guess. During whenever everything started to blur in and I kept skipping a lot of parts when reading."

"These are amazing! You've improved since three years ago!"

"Wait, wha?"

"Seriously!"

"Hey, let me see!" Jon exclaims before peeking over Em's shoulder, "Wow! That's stunning!"

"All in pen too!" Mark remarks, "Isn't that usually an art challenge on the internet or something?"

Even Eduardo is impressed when his face lights up at the art.

"You self-taught?" He asks curiously.

"She is," Em explains, "A few online tutorials helped her, but I haven't seen stuff like this since back in high school. She always did them whenever she was bored or stressed. Even in exams the teachers let her get away with it for some reason."

"Emily!"

"It's true! Wait till Laurie sees this!" She quickly whips out her phone and the camera shutter sound is heard.

"Em, please."

"Aaaaaaand done!"

I facepalm and sigh as I hear the ping of a new text come up on my phone seconds later before I pull it out and see that it's from Laurie. The neighbours don't hesitate to peek over my shoulder.

 **'Y u no send 2 galleries?!'**

"She has a point, Cora!" Jon exclaims.

My eyes widen when I send the reply:

 **'Becuz i wud b controversial 4 doin delivery'**

 **'Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiite. Dad's peekin and hes impressed by art 2. he gonna say hi'**

Em lets off a low whistle, "Wow. Even your dad's liking this?"

I shrug as I send,

 **'hey father'**

A Darth Vader emoji pops up and the five of us burst out laughing.

I send a palpatine one back.

 **'You win.'**

I smirk as another text pops up.

 **'K, dad's gone. Nothin much on 4 Eagle. wrks hrd.'**

 **'IKR'**

 **'also mole rumrs tru. who it is, idk gtg. ily!'**

 **'Ily 2'**

"Great," Em sighs as I slip my phone back in my pocket, "The police have a mole in our rings and we have no idea who it is."

"It could be Felix," I shrug, "With the way Laurie's put him in that last email..."

"Remember when he was a little snitch when he was a kid?" Em snickers, "We always used to bet that he could win the Tattletale Olympics if they ever existed."

"The only thing he could ever shut up about was his job. But I do see him going back to the old ways if he is the mole."

"What if he doesn't want to be?" Mark pipes up.

"Huh?"

"Was Felix ever a good liar when he was a kid?"

"He sucked." I admit, "But he convinced us on a lot of stuff too."

"Maybe a reason why he's so shifty is because he's trying to hide three things: one, he's the mole, two, he doesn't want to be, and three, Uncle Thor and all this politics stuff is mixing in with both jobs as mole and cola-smuggler. Maybe even a bit too much for his liking."

"Mark's cracked Felix alright," Eduardo laughs.

"But who knows. We'll just have to wait and see." Em shrugs before heading back into research.


	10. Chapter 9

**AHHHHHHHH ONE MORE WEEK TILL I POST THE LONGEST CHAPTER OF THEM ALL SO FAR: CHAPTER TEN**

 **...And then I go off on my two-three week break for the sake of Christmas, a writing break and procrastinatio-oh wait I meant work on the future chapters!**

 **I only own Cora, Emily, and the storyline! Everything else belongs to their respective creators!**

 **Also, I'm on my hands and knees for criticism. Please. I need more than four measly reviews.**

* * *

"Anything new, Em?"

"For once, nope. I'm stumped."

"Like Patrick-stumped?"

"How dare you try to get away with a Fall Out Boy pun like that."

"You're right, especially since their music has been practically going around for Centuries."

"Oh my god, Cora."

I giggle, the green walls of my bedroom providing relief for my weary eyes as Em continues researching while she shakes her head at my puns. Today though, we're taking a break from the screens and just writing down theories and whatever notes that come up from our brains. The crew however are the ones messing around with the internet, police databases and even top secret digital copies from dad's hard drives…all from our iPhones and my laptop.

"I've always wondered how your crew can do that…" Em remarks.

"Do what?"

"Dive into the internet. Also, how long has it been since we arrived?"

"Nearly three weeks."

"How time flies. We gotta have a break from research on our one-month anniversary of staying here. A barbecue sounds cool as well if the weather's right."

"I agree. And I was also thinking the same for the internet thing. It also gives us more proof that they might not be actual ghosts." I reply, "I mean, y'know how ghosts and spirits would mess with technology and it all goes haywire, right? These houses have forever internet, TV and phone reception. Heck, when the crew goes through the net, it doesn't crash. Instead they're all like freaking pro hackers without leaving any creepy ghost-like traces."

"But the twins mentioned that the TV was static and that they couldn't get it working in the letter they left for you." Em points out, putting down her pen.

"That was when they left the house, a full week before I came afterwards. If my crew can hack through the internet and whatever databases to find the information we need on Eagle's Cross, then one of them must've fixed the TV so it wasn't static anymore."

"I bet it's a generational thing alongside cola." Em says after a short pause.

"What is?"

"Hacking and computer technics. You've got all four of your ancestors doing it, your dad stole files from the police before and Laurie's been getting hacking lessons from Ed and Ell ever since those two went into robotics and computing in Uni. And then there's you, Miss Gamer." She teases, but embarrassingly, she has a point.

"Oh shut up!" I retort, my cheeks going warm within an instant, "You haven't made me blush ever since that year 12 prom!"

"Really though Cor. You looked amazing at that dance! You were the only one who was gutsy enough to pull that adorable suit-and-ribbon combo!"

"Excuse you, you clearly stole the entire show with that dancing and 1950's swing outfit!"

"Cor, you were my date for that thing. I know you looked awesome in that suit!"

"And you were mine, I know for a fact that you were the star of the show and that Johnny Stone regretted turning you down when he saw you on that dance floor."

"Oh, him? Pfft, whatever. He's probably living off his scholarship savings somewhere in Antarctica being a d-list celebrity for a March of the Penguins parody."

"Ouch, Johnny's surely a pile of ashes now with a burn like THAT. Even the second time around still hurts and I'm not the target. Tasha lost it for weeks over that and kept asking you how you did it."

"Oh, yeah!" She laughs, "She's well on her way to assassinating people with the power of words. But it's probably true though."

"Mm. Underneath all that rock-hard exterior, he's just another stoned-out bag of butts."

"Cora, please." Em facepalms as I grin at my recent pun, "But the best thing that came after it was conning the whole school into thinking we were actually dating. Good cola sales came out of that with the bribe of keeping it secret. Plus, it kept the sleazy guys off our backs."

"Don't I know it! But those 'kisselfies' though. I still get embarrassed over them. I'm glad it was just Photoshop. I wonder how many stupid nicknames we came up with back then-"

"Are you two going to list a few of those for all of us to listen or are you gonna work?" Tord butts in the conversation, his head and shoulders peeking out from my phone screen like a hologram.

"…How long have you been listening to this?" Em asks uneasily.

"Starting from that Year 12 Prom to now." He shrugs as I let go of a small sigh in my chest, "By the way Cora, do your older siblings go to Oxford or Cambridge?"

"Uh…yeah, why?"

"Laurie's got news of riot threats and protests happening there, as well as on the streets. Also, you should've seen your tumblr, the posts on your feed are blowing up all over the police force and laws in the UK."

"Get off my dash, would you? We'll head back to work."

"I might be searching files, but I'm watching you too."

Em and I roll our eyes as we pick up our pens and revise our research as Tord slips back into the screen, diving into digital files once more.


	11. Chapter 10

**IT'S FINALLY HERE, THE CHAPTER EVERYONE HAS BEEN WAITING FOR**

 **...and so is my three-week writing break! Or to be exact, my three-week break that I set up so that I don't post any chapters on the fridays.**

 **HOWEVER, I am almost complete with writing Round Three of Chapter writing, all I have to do is finish up Chapter Fifteen and check it through with my fabulous editor Suomi (aka Author Espanya)! Then, I'll start work on writing the drafts for Chapters 16-18 (Round Four) in my notebook.**

 **That doesn't mean there's nothing Eagle's Cross related to do when I'm on chapter break!**

 **Check the tumblr blog of this story for a little something I've been planning over the past few days, and provided that I'm not lazy, I may do a contest! Maybe.**

 **Just to be clear, (LIKE YOU HAVEN'T BEEN EVERY PAST CHAPTER PANDA /slapped), I only own the plot, Cora and Emily. Everything else belongs to the respective owners!**

 **Also, this fic is fed on reviews. Please don't let it starve.**

* * *

The thing that has me, my neighbours and the rest of my crew up at 7AM in the morning is the crossbreed sound of a cat, whale and Godzilla screeching loudly while dying up in the attic.

I'm not surprised to see that Matt is dancing all around his pile of junk, hollering the lyrics to YMCA, even though Em and I have earmuffs on. Groaning with disgust, I find an airhorn near my feet and cringe as it blares out through the attic, silencing the crazed performance within seconds. I yank the earmuffs off Em and me.

"Matt," I sigh, facepalming, "I hate to say this, but your addition of dying Godzilla and creating the holy trinity of the Death-Screaming Animals has woken us all up. Please, just…learn to keep it down, would you?"

When I mention the trinity of the said animals, Em bursts out laughing and this time, it's not her usual loud giggle. She's collapsed on the floor and clutching her chest while her it rises up and down rapidly. Unfortunately, it's infectious and soon enough, everyone, including Matt is laughing alongside Emily. I'm the only one still standing with a serious face and folded arms. Is my honesty really that hilarious to them?

Jeez.

"Trinity of Death-Screaming Animals-" Tom wheezes, "I can't even!"

"I am honestly so done with the lot of you." I sigh before heading downstairs, leaving the laughing eight behind as I make my way to the bedroom and checking my calendar.

I gasp in surprise.

Today has been one full month that I have moved into Durdum Lane.

My mind goes back to the conversation I had with Em a few days ago and I know exactly what to do.

For the occasion, I get dressed into something other than my usual outfit: Three-quarter khaki shorts, my science-y shirt with the elements Bromine and Oxygen in periodic-table form and four bracelets, two on each wrist. Blue and green on the left, purple and red on the right.

When I head out, I'm greeted with seven mildly stunned faces and one curious one. The last one belongs to Emily before it's replaced with realisation. The crews however, are still stumped on why I'm like this.

"What's with the outfit, Cor?" Jon pipes up, before being shot a glare from Eduardo. I shoot one back at the latter of the two before shrugging nonchalantly.

"Oh, it's just been a month since I moved into Durdum Lane. Em and I decided we should have a break from research, from the day I arrived to the day she did."

"That means…five days of no research," Tord calculates, "Cora, are you serious?"

"Tord, we need this. And an excuse to have a barbecue going."

"Cora has a point," Em backs me up, "I HAVE to try my hand at my family's extra-spicy butter chicken and sweet-and-sour naan bread. Plus, it's a barbecue. I'm getting pretty desperate for sausages."

The crews' mouths begin to water at what Emily has described, even Tord's eyes looking like they're staring off into a space where the stars are made of naan bread and the planets look like chicken.

"Alright, it's a barbecue and a five-day break."

The rest of us sigh in relief.

"Where should we set it up?" Matt asks.

"Edd's backyard. It's closer and I'm betting that there's something in that junkpile of yours that we can use."

* * *

 _Two hours later…_

Just as the barbecue from Matt's junk has been cleaned out and set up by Eduardo and Tom, multiple tables from the attic (though irregular) finally being set out by Mark and Edd and two cases of finely aged regular and diet cola down in the basement discovered by Tord and Jon, Em finally comes out dressed from 25, balancing two full wooden trays in her hands.

"What took you so long?" I ask, firing up the barbecue and taking one of the trays off her, now seeing clearly that they have a rack of spices, creams, seasonings and a whole plucked and uncooked chicken. My eyes widen at the sight.

"Did you order these off the teleporter supermarket? Em, the amount it takes to ship this stuff instantly costs a bomb!"

"Not if your dad's paying, one. Two, my mum also works in that supermarket and she only borrowed one of them to send the spices and seasonings from the pods for free. I borrowed your dad's credit card to pay for the chicken and creams for the sauces, but I still got a discount anyway from mum."

"How do you-never mind, forget I tried to ask. Also, is that the exact top half from the year 12 prom that you're wearing?"

Em smirks and I roll my eyes. Of course I would recognise that lilac t-shirt, dark green 1950's neckscarf and navy blue short-sleeved button-up outfit from that dance two years ago. This time however, she's kept the black leggings instead of going for the swing skirt.

"I'll admit though, you do look very cute in that."

"Thank you, sugar-plumps." She winks teasingly.

"Oh, don't bring that up AGAIN."

"I also ordered sausages, but I've gotta make a start on this butter chicken, so d'you think you can grab them from my kitchen for me?"

"Done and done!" Matt calls out from behind us before he plonks a third tray onto the table and falling on his back, puffing. "How many sausage packs did you order? They're heavy!"

"Um…12?"

Matt groans, "That's all of them alright. Consider me out for the rest of set-up. My face hurts."

"You didn't do anything with face, you did stuff with your hands." I deadpan, "That's no excuse to stay out of helping us. Now can you please help Jon and Tord with getting those cola jugs set up?"

"Fine," he grumbles, expression clearly grumpy, but appears to soften a little, "Y'know…you kinda remind me of Tom or Edd sometimes…"

I move my arms across myself and bite my lip, partially from nervousness that Matt is onto something, partially from embarrassment that I remind him of his friends.

Then I realise.

I saw Matt's expression clearly.

Come to think of it…

I look around in tense excitement at the crews who are working on the table and hauling chairs through the door. I see their faces and bodies with a sort of clear solidness, any traces of transparency are next to nothing.

"Em," I whisper, "Are you looking at what I'm looking?"

She turns her head from the sauce that is now filling the air of spices, making my heart cry to be melted into the scents.

"Yeah…they're opaque."

* * *

"Ooh, this looks tasty."

The both of us turn around to see Tom swipe a little of the spiced sauce with his finger, before licking it off to our astonishment and dropped jaws.

"What?" He asks, as if nothing weird was happening to him.

"You didn't tell us that you guys can eat!" I exclaim.

"Of course we can, it's just-ahhHHHHH! HOT! HOT!" Tom screams before running off from the barbecue and into the house, cursing something about bloody murder.

I don't know whether to laugh or not, but sharing a glance with Em leaves the both of us howling with tears on the grass.

"I…told you!" Em manages out through laughs, "It was…hot!"

By the time Tom finally comes out from ultra-heat recovery, the table is set, the food is waiting fresh and we're all sitting down, waiting for him to arrive before we dig in. He looks kinda stunned at the rest of us patiently taking our time for him.

"You…you really waited for me to come over and say grace?" He asks, stepping back slightly. "I mean, we don't have to do it if you don't want to."

"What's grace?" I ask, frowning.

"He's a Jehovah's Witness," Tord explains, "It's a sort of thing they do before every meal to give thanks to some guy up in the clouds named God."

I notice Em shifts around a little uneasily to my confusion before remembering.

 _Oh. Yeah._

 _Sorry you had to hear that._

"I'm not a Jehovah's Witness any more, Com-"

"Zip it you two." I butt in, "We're saying grace. Tom, what do we have to do during this?"

"Just…hold hands, close our eyes and bow our heads, I think. You do that until I finish the prayer. That's gonna be difficult with you two…ah, well…"

"We'll pretend we're holding your hands. Works anyway." Em shrugs.

"Will do."

The nine of us hold hands in a large circle-ish shape, bow our heads and close our eyes. Well, I attempt to hold hands with Matt to my right and Em with Jon on the left, but I peek one eye open and notice it. It's a good thing Tom is taking his time to think out his prayer.

Pixels are flickering around Matt and Jon's hands as we attempt to hold them.

The longer we do it, the bigger the pixels get and the more they flicker, parts of the hands even disappearing. But Tom then begins to pray.

"God…if you are there…I know I haven't talked to you at all…but I wanna give thanks.

"I wanna say thanks for today, this month with Cora and Emily staying in Durdum Lane, my friends and yes, even those neighbours.

"Thank you for this break, this food and you being here, basically. I pray that we can get to a breakthrough on the Eagle's Cross research and…yeah. Amen."

"Amen." We all repeat before letting go and digging into the sausages and butter chicken.

"You know," Edd remarks, "The butter chicken isn't that bad. I don't know what Tom was screaming about earlier."

"I tamed the spices so that it wouldn't murder everyone on first taste." Em snickers, "Thanks to Tom for taking the first test."

Some of us snicker at the said guy while his eye sockets shift around.

"Hey, I didn't know it would be that hot!" He protests.

"Hot damn," Em smirks.

"Oh don't be bringing that meme back!" Eduardo groans.

"Call the police and the fireman, this meme is too hot not to bring back!" I retort, laughing.

And so the conversation keeps rolling.

* * *

 _Three hours later…_

Jokes are passed around, plenty of aged cola drunk excessively, and almost dozens of stories, from both me and Em and the crews are shared. It's not long really until everyone begins to pack up at the sight of the two hovertrucks flying in closer to the road.

"I wonder who it is…" I mutter as I make my way to the front of the house as the trucks land and the windows open, revealing the drivers to be-

"Jasper and Ted?" Em asks, stunned, "What are you two doing here?"

Jasper grins and presses a button on his dashboard, opening the back doors of the trucks before Clearside hovercrates fly out onto the front yards of 25 and 27, containing…our furniture, posters and cola stashes from the pod suburbs?

"What's going on?" I question, surprised, "What's our stuff doing here?"

"Good news, kiddo," Jasper answers, motioning me to come to the window before handing me an envelope. "Open it."

Tearing it open and pulling out the letter inside, I can't believe what's written on the simple piece of paper.

 _'I, Edward Earnest Duncan Gould IV, release the rights of 27 Durdum Lane to my second-eldest daughter, Coraline Gould, as she is now come of adult age to own the family home. And on the behalf of Emily Brock's parents, I release the rights of 25 Durdum Lane to her as well._

 _'Signed,_

 ** _'_ _EGIV'_**

My eyes widen and my hands start shaking in excitement. I don't believe it, it's too good to be true, but I start squealing, laughing and hugging Emily with joy running through my veins.

"Cora! Calm down! What's-"

"How can I be calm if my dad's given me the rights to the house, and your parents with yours?!"

"WHAT?!"

"We're staying, Emily! We're staying in Durdum Lane! We're officially moving into Durdum Lane!"

And that's when she starts squealing and hugging in joy alongside me.

"Oh my god, oh my god! We're finally living away from the business!"

"Yeaaah, about that," Ted butts in, "You're still gonna have to work from here when your vacation's over. That's an order."

"Not that I care about it now," I shrug, "We have a long time before we head back into it anyway. By the way, Jasper?"

"I've gotten a lot of info, but that firewall is a real piece of stubborn ass." The doors of the trucks shut when the dashboard button is pressed again.

"Are we talking about the animal or the human anatomical part?" Em asks.

"The former." Jasper shrugs, "Ted, we should get going. I'm getting a little desperate to try that new AirJeep Y-88 you keep ranting on about."

"See you at the finish line." Ted smirks before zipping off into the air and Jasper tailing behind, which is a weird thing to describe when it's hovertrucks speeding away.

"What were you two screaming about over there?" Edd asks, popping up next to us, "And-"

"Don't you dare." Em glares.

"WHAT ARE THOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSE?" He yells, pointing at all the hovercrates in the front yards, making Em facepalm and sigh.

I stare at the letter in my hands and I feel nerves rising in my chest. If I give Edd the letter, the cat will be out the bag and he'll know the truth. Then, the others will connect the dots and I'll be entirely found out.

But if I don't…I'll lose trust in them.

Taking a deep breath, I make my decision.

"I…I should mention that…you'll fully know who my family comes from if I hand you the letter…" I manage out, clenching my fists and visibly taking deep breaths.

"What do you mean?" Edd asks, concern evident in his voice. "Cora, are you alright?"

"Just…please don't be mad at me for not telling you earlier…" I let go of the letter, hold Emily's hand and Edd catches the paper.

The silence after is long and agonizing. I actually count ten minutes of it in my head before something happens.

His eyes are wide as he reads the entire passage again and again. When he's done, the letter slips through his fingers and lands softly on the grass.

"You're…you're staying. You're really moving in."

I nod slowly.

"Edward Gould IV...that's your dad?"

"Yes." I manage out, strangely sounding somewhat confident.

"Which means…you're my descendant. Golding is a nickname for Gould."

I nod again, fear in my chest rising, forcing me to blurt out something that I wasn't able to find words for a long time.

"Edd, why do you seem so proud of me and my family?"

My voice begins to break, tears starting to spill from my eyes.

"We're against the law, we're criminals and smugglers."

I fall on my knees.

"We've harmed people, captured them and blackmailed them. How can you still show love and pride in such people who've done horrid things? I'm terrified of my cousins and uncles, because how can I try to have a family love for them while they are working on the side of the law?"

My body shivers and shakes, teardrops falling onto my knees and the grass, my gaze unable to meet his. I notice another three shadows join behind Edd's and I await the first angry and stunned blow of disownment.

"P-p-please…I-I-I just…" I bury my face in my hands, shame washing and drowning me, "I wasn't ready to tell you. I-I-I thought that you wouldn't-"

"Believe you and instead get angry? Cora, I don't care about what your family did or has done. I'm beyond happy that you're my descendant."

"Wha-what?" Isn't he supposed to be angry at me that my family has gone down the wrong path? Like all those movies and stories had taught me?

"You really thought that I'd be mad at your family? Cora, that's all wrong. Your family is mine, too. They have to do what they have to do to keep you and your siblings safe and going to better places, you know that." He tries to reassure me.

I don't believe him.

"Let's all head inside," Em suggests, "We can talk properly there and get this all out. It's going to be okay Cora, trust us."

'Us.'

Not just 'me' any more.

'Us.'

I take her hand and don't stop shivering, silently hyperventilating and fresh tears still falling down my face as I stand up and gently make my way to the living room before hugging my knees and curling up on one of the couches' corners. As everyone is coming in, I stare at the giant gold-framed mirror hanging on the wall with a terrified resentment. If I had never found that thing in the first place, I would never be here, confessing to my ancestors and awaiting the angry blows.

Em sits next to me, pulling me into a hug of temporary relief and slowing my breathing down, but it speeds up again as I let go and Edd sits down next to the both of us. Tom, Matt and Tord plonk down on the other couch and stare at me in disbelief. Mark and Jon have the same expression as they stand from behind said couch, but Eduardo has a look of sympathy for me as he leaves a glass of icy water on the armrest to my right.

"Coraline Gould." Tom manages out, "Wow."

"Tom, shut up. We're all stunned here, but now's not the time." Tord snaps and I flinch. He gives me an apologetic look as I turn away from his gaze.

God, it reminds me so much of dad…

"I-I-I should mention that Edd's not my only ancestor…" I manage out. This has the others perking up.

"Who?" Matt asks in a gentle voice, giving me déjà vu of my mum.

"I mentioned that Golding is the family nickname for Gould, right? My cousins were Ridgies, Harts and L's. You figure out the rest."

I relent to a tiny sip of the ice-cold water as I try to tear away my gaze from the three, but my eyes can't seem to let go of the expressions of Tom, Matt and Tord as they go through confusion, stunned realisation and then a mix between joy and sympathy.

"Oh my god…" Tom manages out after a short silence, "We're related. The four of us are related through Cora." The comment swipes at my crazily beating, terrified heart. I know he means well by it, but it hurts instead.

"I-I-I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Edd asks, gently. He sounds like dad on one his best days.

"For not telling you earlier. The research could've gone-"

"Cora, please," Again with the same gentleness, "It's okay. We're not mad at you at all. You weren't ready to tell us who you are and we respect that."

"I'm still not and I went ahead with it…" I reply in a small voice, "And the research-"

"That's a very brave thing to do. Actually, who gives a _faen_ about the research now? It's a break!"

"Yeah! You're related to me! Life can't get better than that! I'll admit, I had stuff like this a few times."

"Wha…?"

"Me too, on both things Matt mentioned." Tom admits.

"Cora, you need to get that the idea of us being mad at you is just not true. Y'hear that?" Tord furthers on.

"Now that you've told us, I think life's gonna get easier and better for the lot of us. All of us have, well… a sort of love for you, Cor. It's especially true for the four of us now since it's official that you're family." Edd explains.

"I-I-"

"Coraline, you're a part of our family and we love you. We're damn well proud of you, even."

"I hate to admit it, but he's right." Eduardo interrupts, "I admire your badassery with all that gaming. For someone who lives in the future…you know the past pretty damn well."

"Cor, I know I've said this a million times over," Em adds, "But you're a sister to me. You've saved my behind multiple times, smuggling or not, and I am so grateful that we can trust eachother on huge secrets our parents aren't allowed to know."

"Also," Eduardo continues, "Just because you have four losers as ancestors, doesn't mean you're one of them."

All four of the said ancestors raise their sole middle finger to his line of vision and I don't hesitate to join them before wiping my face and drinking more water.

"See what I mean, Cor?" Edd points out, a hopeful smile on his face.

I sniffle.

"God, I wish I could hug you."

All of my crew nods in agreement, a tinge of sadness evident on their faces. My heart slows down to a melancholy-filled pace as Em hugs me in their place. I don't hesitate to return it, but I do hesitate to let go for a long time.

"We should keep it quiet for the rest of the day," She suggests and we all agree, "Watch a few movies, listen to some audiobooks. Just give you enough time to recover from the shock and allowing me to explain my heritage to the other three nerds."

"Wait a minute," Mark begins to realise, "Are you hinting that-"

"My last name is Brock. Isn't that Jon's last name? Also, I mentioned that I was quadracial a long time ago: Indian, Black, Polynesian and White. Where do you think I got the last one from?"

I don't hesitate to giggle as all three of Emily's ancestors faint and my forefathers' jaws drop.

"A benefit of being dark-skinned and quadracial," Emily continues, "Is that I'm able to trash on racist views with my mere presence, before throwing them out the window and into the depths of Atlantis when I speak." She holds out her hand for a high-five and I oblige.

"Can all of you stick around as we watch some movies?" I ask, "It would feel better that way."

"You bet, kiddo." Tom winks.

"Our kiddo." Edd corrects him, smiling.

For the first time since my attack, I feel like my heart is actually happy again.


	12. Chapter 11

**WELL IT'S CERTAINLY BEEN A WHILE**

 **But now my three-week posting break is over and here we are, back with weekly chapter postings and all the more mystery!**

 **Also, you really should check out what's been happening fic-wise on dA and tumblr, quite the ride has been happening over there: self-interviews, new ref sheets for Cora and Emily (I'm working on Em's, hold on!) amongst other things.**

 **Anyway, for this chapter, I unfortunately don't have any music from the playlist that fits this chapter to my liking. Oh well, you can mentally insert whatever music you want in here, haha.**

 **I only own Cora, Emily, and the plot. Everything else mentioned belongs to the respective owners.**

* * *

 _Day Two out of Five for the celebration break._

"Eduardo, is that popcorn done yet, or is your microwave really slow?"

"Hey, watch it blue loser, just give it another minute!"

"Oi, gramps, you better stop lying and just give it to them. I know you want to give them the burnt stuff and have the decent bowl to yourself, but Cora's gonna play the marathon without you if you do that."

"Okay, okay Emily! Here you go, jeez. You're not my mom."

"I am your great-great-granddaughter with the decency of Leonardo da Vinci. I'm surprised this actually came down from your family line, since you have the decency of Leonardo the ninja turtle times negative infinity."

"OOOOOOOOH GET WRECKED EDUARDO!"

"…shut up. Let's settle before Cora hits play."

I give Emily a knowing smirk as my finger hovers over the left mouse button, ready to play the Star Wars Saga marathon. Tord and Mark are making polite conversation, Matt and Jon are blabbing on about past happy memories, and Edd? Well, he's right next to me, trying to rub my shoulder with his pixel-y holographic-like hand, the both of us smiling and giggling as he miserably fails to do so.

I'm glad my assumptions of anger from my ancestors were proven highly wrong. In fact, yesterday after I confessed, all we did was try to snuggle together (fully clothed, mind you) in a blanket fort while watching a Steven Universe marathon without me falling through them…which was very hard to do. However, I'm still pretty wary that I may stuff up something and lose trust, making my heart gently beat a little faster than usual.

Finally, Emily comes into the living room, hauling soft blankets over her shoulders, a notebook and paintings in one hand and a bowl of popcorn in the other. I recognise the notebook as her copy of the Eagle's Cross research, but I don't ask as Edd points at my phone, vibrating as it pings, signifying a text. I smile when I see it's from Laurie, but it dissipates within milliseconds.

 **'Bad luck confrmd'**

"What does she mean?" Edd asks, peering at the text.

"Felix Larsson is the mole," I sigh, but the disturbing information is forgotten very soon as Tom and Eduardo bring in the other 6 bowls of popcorn and we all settle in the soft blankets, but I'm never able to press the play button as Emily shows off two pieces of art: one of a child's drawing with the name 'SuperEdd' (and mysterious tiny holes in it) and the other a canvas painting of an adorable little duckling.

"Once again, stories are true," She grins, "I never knew that you were a painter, Eduardo!"

I'm not too sure, but I think his cheeks go red as Edd takes the 'SuperEdd' drawing.

"I was wondering where that was… what's with all these holes?"

"He used it as a target for darts-ow! It's true though!"

"Eduardo, you're going beyond the decency of negative infinity now. Just apologise."

"Fine. Sorry Jon."

"S'alright…"

"But really though," I butt in, "What's the deal behind these works? They both look awesome!"

"Well, it all started back in kindergarten when an art contest was nearing the due date…"

* * *

"…And that's how Eduardo and I got temporary superpowers! And these artworks too."

"So that would mean…Cora and I have superpowered DNA that could be activated with a nicely-shot blast of nuclear radiation?"

"That's the gist of it."

"Wow."

"Y'know, the art stories remind me of that one tumblr story about this John Morris kid who had a box of marbles stolen because he dunked some kid's head in Year 7, is that the one?" I recall.

"Oh, THAT one!" Tom guffaws, "Classic. Completely classic."

"But still," Eduardo sighs, "I wish I hadn't given up painting because of that contest. Who knows what could've happened if I just kept going…"

"Oh, work would've been so much easier to get away with that artistic background," Em points out wistfully, "But really, is that what you wanted to be at some point? A painter?"

"It would've been real nice…Hey Red, what about you?"

"It's Tord. Me? Well…I don't know really. I'd rather be someone out of the public eye entirely than be popular for anything. I like my privacy."

"I feel you," I smile at him in sympathy, "Jon, what about you? What did you wanna be when you grew up?"

"I'm with Tord on this one. But I'd would've loved to own a candy store! Or maybe even horror movies!"

We all slightly back away from the seemingly innocent blue buttoned-up ancestor and Em even gives off a low whistle.

"Kinda daring coming from a cinnamon roll like you."

"What about you, Em?" Mark pipes up.

"Me? Well, a singer or lead singer of a band would be pretty awesome, I think. I wanted to be a gymnast, but smuggling got in the way and I'm kinda out of practice. I used to dance a lot too and you three have seen me do my morning stretches though, so you already had a decent guess at what I wanted to be. Maybe I could be doing an act where I sing while doing all those moves and poses!"

"Em, your voice alone would just murder the billboard charts and the dancing would put everyone in a coma, it's that good!"

"Oh, shut up Cor! That's not true!"

"Yes it is! Seriously! My best friend here could've been making dosh for days with that sort of talent!"

"Coraline!" Her cheeks are a dark red and her arms are crossed around herself, even as her small smile and giggle escapes her lips.

"Okay, okay. You don't have to sing for us right now. Matt, what did you want to be when you grew up?"

"Well, I'm-I mean, was-am, an animator, but directing and doing live-action sketch comedy is more my forte. I even had a youtube channel with a couple videos."

"No way!" I exclaim, "Were you popular?"

"Eeyup! A whole lot of views on my 'Please Stand By' series and I did work with Tom and Edd did on a few collaborations."

"You were filmmakers too?"

"Well, Edd's an animator, but I became a director of sketch comedy and action, starring in a lot of them too. I also directed cartoons and was a voice actor in most of them. You know the asdfmovie saga, right?"

Our jaws drop.

"No. Freaking. Way." Em manages out, "You were the director and creator of the asdfmovie saga? You're THE TomSka?"

"You didn't guess that already? I mean, who else would I be? Plus, Edd animated asdfmovie2 and its deleted scenes. He even was the 'I Like Trains' kid." He high-fives said ancestor and I can tell by the clenching of fists and a glance in her eyes that Em is going to freak out if she hears any more bombshells.

"Okay…to try and get over that, Mark, what did you want to be?"

"Well, a librarian would've been nice. Or maybe even an author. A job that's quiet, I guess. What about you Cora? What do you want to be?"

"Me? Well…I dunno, really. There's a lot of options out there. Something freelance and…well, not stressful, I guess. There's a lot of different jobs out there with that description and Cola-smuggling isn't one of them. If only I could quit…"

"Speaking of that, Cora? Have you checked your hair in the mirror recently?" Em asks, eyes wide with sudden realisation.

"No, I haven't paid attention. Why?"

"Your streak. Your physical ties to Cola-smuggling. It's nearly gone."

The revelation slaps me in the face.

All this time as I discovered secrets that were long-buried…

I was forgetting my ties to the business.

I was letting them fade out to nothing.

A smile spreads across my face as I realise I'm able to say something that I only dreamed of revealing ever since I was 12.

"You know what? I quit. I'm not cola-smuggling any longer."

To my surprise, everyone breaks out in cheers and polite clapping, even Em is throttling me with a tight hug.

"Think of it!" She exclaims, "Give it the rest of the month and the streak will be gone! You're never going back to the business! You're free!"

"And," Edd butts in, "If you're thinking of alternate jobs, I'll be happy to teach you animation and drawing."

"Really?"

"Honest! In fact, I had an entire webseries!"

"So the family stories are true! Let me guess on behalf of Emily's excited sanity and composure-"

"Oi!"

"-Are you the one who created, oh, I don't know, let me guess…Eddsworld, is it?"

"Give her an award already, she's just hit the nail on the hammer!"

I blush profusely as I ask,

"Those stories-I mean Eddisodes, they're all true, right?"

"Eeyup. But one always just keeps me confused."

"Say what?"

"Well, a future version of me tried to-you know what? Let's watch it. It'll be just confusing if I try to explain it."

"But, but the marathon-"

"Can wait," I finish, "Here, let's see if I can pull it up…what's it called?"

"WTFuture."

"Okay… got it up. Huh. The guy in the thumbnail looks like my dad. Almost exactly down to the beard."

"Don't be silly, only Tom's family can grow beards."

"Excuse you. He's my family too."

"It's a disorder!"

* * *

As all nine of us watch the Eddisode, two of us start to make dangerous and risky connections to Eagle's Cross. As it plays on, Em keeps writing in her notebook and I mentally keep my notes.

-Future Edd looks and sounds EXACTLY like my dad. If memory serves me right, this is also the exact outfit he was wearing when he left for the Eagle's Cross Operation. My dad also has aggressive moments when having withdrawals from Cola when we have to lay low and pause deliveries for the sake of the police not catching us.

-Future Tom can be easily mistaken for Uncle Thomas. Tom did take a laser to the face, but so had Uncle Thomas. Uncle Thomas had later gotten cancer and had to have digital eyegoggles afterwards...Exactly like Future Tom. Uncle Thomas also had an electric bass named Susan, after the legendary one that Tom owns in the metal compartment.

-Future Matt looks like a vaguely familiar version of Uncle Matthew before the change/pop in time, when he has hair on his head as well as a mechanical chin and eye, but after the pop that swaps the hair for balding and the cyborg eye and chin for the natural ones, I'm able to say that Uncle Matthew and Future Matt could easily be the same man.

-I'm not able to make proper connections yet, but the mention of 'Red Leader' sends chills up my spine. Future Tord as the assumed Red Leader? Or…Uncle Thor as the Red Leader, the former policeman that is rising up in British politics now?

Sure, it's hilarious at the end with Matt changing time to his liking and the rest of us wondering what had happened to make time return to normal, but five seconds after the credits and reading over Em's notes, it all falls into place instantly.

My eyes widen in shock.

Em and I exclaim it at the same time.

"He lied?!"


	13. Chapter 12

**Ah yes, one of my favourite chapters. not just for the content, but also the CLIFFHANGER**

 **Did I spill too much?**

 **Anyway.**

 **I only own, Cora, Emily and this plot. Everything else belongs to the rightful owners.**

 **Please review!**

* * *

 _Day Two of Five for the celebration break._

* * *

"What?" Edd stares at the both of us, confused and stunned by our sudden outburst, "Cora, Emily? What's going on?"

"Oh my god, oh my god!" Emily exclaims, "This makes so much sense now!"

"What is?" Tom asks.

"Eagle's Cross!" I jump about a foot in the air, "Operation: Eagle's Cross was a suicide mission with a grandfather paradox, which he saw as a saving grace! How did I not notice this before?"

"But why would I kill go back and kill myself?" Edd points out, confused, "Wasn't that clear in the Eddisode?"

"It's not you who came out to kill you, it's my dad that was after you!"

The crews' eyes widen to the size of teacups. Tord and Mark's eyes however, quickly return to normal.

"All this time… _faen_ , how could I not think of that?"

"The rest of us are still confused, comm-"

"We'll try to explain as best we can, but bear with us if we get too hyped." Emily explains, "First of all, Cora's dad lied to you three about being Future Edd."

"But he looked exactly the same to me! Well, except for the bottom of his hair. That's more…Tord-ish, come to think of it."

"And he used it to his advantage." I pull up a selfie with dad during one of the rare better moments on my phone, "See?"

"…All down to the coat! But why didn't he mention you-hold on. He was either being an ass or didn't want his mission ruined by the thoughts of his wife and kids, right?"

"Bang on!" Em agrees, her face lighting up, "The same sort of deal is with Cora's uncles too, Matthew and Thomas, who took 'Future Matt' and 'Future Tom' respectively."

"Eh…the laser-eye thing was pretty specific though."

"Do you remember getting cancer in your eye sockets at some point?" Em deadpans.

"No, actually," Tom frowns, "But how-"

"Uncle Thomas took a laser to the face too, except his lack of eyes didn't have an infinite space like you and well, the cancer developed." I explain, "That one Zanta mission had only a single casualty and that was Uncle Thomas. Well, from what I've heard from him in the civil family meetings."

"So history repeats itself, except worse. Also, did you just-"

"Anyway, the same deal goes for Matthew IV," Em goes on, "Although we're not quite too sure on what happened to his chin and eye in the first place. And how he actually had hair too."

"Oh, thank god I don't look that old!" Matt sighs in relief, leading the rest of us to roll our eyes, "But do you know what changed in time to stop him from losing his eye, chin and hair?"

Em shrugs helplessly, "Got no idea. We never saw it in the Eddisode but I guess it still gives a pretty good point on how a minor thing in the past can make a major impact in the future, better or worse."

The crews nod with agreement, but Tord raises his hand.

"What about Red Leader? I mean, especially with him popping up in the news a lot more."

"That's Uncle Thorfrid's former police name before he said he'd quit permanently 6 years ago," I recall, "I agree, it is getting pretty freaky, but at least we can somewhat pinpoint dad's age on when he went back. If Uncle Thomas and Matthew were talking to Red Leader while going after dad, I was still a kid. Dad was pretty restless when I was younger but he seemed to relax more as I got older."

"What about the time machines?" Edd points out, "I mean, it does make more sense that they'd be coming from your time, but they seem kinda…I dunno, non-existent, from what we've found out on the internet these days…"

"They exist, but all of three that the world knows about are locked up somewhere in the London Police base. Okay, everyone knows that two time machines are in the world, but Laurie once hacked in and found the location of them and the third one existed, but swore me to secrecy about it and not tell dad. The only people I've told about this are you guys and Emily."

"Something seems kinda off though," Eduardo remarks, "Why did your dad talk about returning to our home time?"

"No idea. Maybe he'd been there before and tasted the original stuff when secret time-travelling missions were a thing back in the day, according to what Cor heard from her dad."

An email pops up on my phone. It's from Jasper, he's gotten through the firewall, but most of his info is somewhat kinda irrelevant as it only just further confirms what Em and I have been explaining to the crews.

Dad named Operation: Eagle's Cross from the secret three notes that Sir Francis Haddock had sent out to his sons to tell them where the treasure lay in the Tintin comic, because dad found emotional and metaphorical connections to him hiding secrets and a sort of treasure in the basement of the house.

Confusion in the room begins to die down, now being replaced with understanding instead. But those few nervous glances around the room tells me that there's still questions to be answered. Jon speaks up first:

"Why did your dad and uncles use 'Future' before their nicknames? Not that they just looked similar to them, I guess…"

"…good point. They technically are future Edd, Tom, Matt and Tord if you wanna think over it in a certain way." Em shrugs.

"What's the deal of me, Jon and Mark in this," Eduardo asks, "If it's all about Cora's family line?"

"I think you were a witness to something Mr Gould didn't want you letting out. Maybe that's why he dragged the three of you in too."

My heart slowly starts to pound. It speeds up when Matt jumps in.

"Hold on, is there a reason from Eagle's Cross on why we're…ghosts? I mean, we walk through you and the only way you could see us in the beginning was through those mirrors."

Em and I glance at each other, mildly stunned, before I reply.

"We've got no idea. It's a really good question, but we can't answer that. But we can say that we think you're not really ghosts."

"What?"

"I mean, what kind of ghost fixes technology instead of making it go all the more haywire? How come when we walk through you or stand in you guys for too long, you pixelate? Plus, it's VERY unusual on how a ghost can hack their way through the internet like a freaking pro."

Seven jaws drop in shock.

"Plus, do you guys ever remember dying?" Em adds.

Stunned silence. Slowly, Edd shakes his head. The others follow.

"No, actually…But I do kinda remember being in some sort of room on some bed-like…thing. I tried to sit up properly, but it was like I was being held back by…something. I did manage to see that the rest of us were here and were on the same sort of bed-like things before we blacked out and well…woke up like this."

"Beyoncé reference aside, I'm kinda mad we didn't get to say goodbye to our spouses and kids…" Tom grumbles. Tord agrees before he raises his hand to ask something,

"I know that my diary pages have helped with the research, but…I don't remember writing them or hiding them in those portraits."

"Wait, wh-what?"

"I don't remember writing those diary pages or hiding them. It's like…it's like the memories are blocked off from my mind and I can't get in. Also, every time I think I'm close to remembering anything from it, I always get a headache and the buzzing in the basement grows louder before dying down."

Em and I share a worried glance as the others begin to agree about Tord's comments of blocked-off memories that they can't get through.

"Buzzing noise?" She repeats, stunned, "I don't remember hearing that!"

"Come to think of it…" I muse, "Every time we've researched in the basement, there was a weird noise coming from that secret door…"

"Are you saying that we go down there?" Matt panics, "Now? Like right now?!"

"No, not now," I reassure him, "But I have a feeling it's going to be pretty soon."

* * *

 _Day Five of Five for the celebration break._

* * *

The buzzing from beyond that threshold of the vault-like door is making me tremble violently. I came to try and make myself put up some confidence for when the time comes to go down, but it's difficult to glare at something I can't see, only hear.

The joints in my fingers feel tight and my knuckles are white from clenching on my hoodie pocket to try and calm my nerves.

"Cora? What the _faen_ are you doing?"

I jump at the sound of the ancestor in red holding his old diary pages before I sigh in relief.

"Did I frighten you?"

I take deep breaths in and out, closing my eyes in an attempt to stop my heart from beating so much.

"No, it's alright."

Nothing works.

"I was kinda wondering if you could help me get through with sorting these pages in the right order so I can read them properly."

"Why?"

"It's kinda bugging me, seeing them all out of order."

"But what about the headaches?"

"I'll live."

I hope so.

Something else inside me is screaming otherwise.

"Should we do it here?"

Whatever's going on, dad's definitely hiding something down in the basement.

"Sure, why not."

I don't think it's going to be pretty.

* * *

 _NEXT TIME, ON THE MYSTERY OF EAGLE'S CROSS:_

* * *

 _Mine venner,_ I'm sorry.

* * *

I couldn't save you.

* * *

"I feel like someone's watching..."


	14. Chapter 13: Prelude

**You really thought I was gonna post 13? HA NOT TODAY**

 **Also, no song this time, but I'm giving you heavy advice: this chapter and the near-end of chapter 12 are key to understanding 13, which will be posted up next week.**

 **I don't own anything but my characters and the plot.**

 **Don't forget to review!**

* * *

 _FINAL ENTRY OF THORFRID LARSSON I'S DIARY  
_ I've done the best I can to fill these pages. But I have a dark feeling that this may be my last time in here. So I've stolen their tape recorder and transcripted the entire conversation as if it were a film. I guess it's a sort of _tributt_ to my old friends, in a sense.  
I'll hide these pages in the photo frames when I'm done, but I don't think I'll have enough time to hide myself. _Mine venner,_ I'm sorry.  
I couldn't save you.

* * *

 ** _RECORDING FOUND:_**

 ** _Unknown Date, Unknown Month, 2030._**

 ** _27, Durdum Lane's basement, London, UK._**

 _(The sounds of a supercomputer starting up are heard with the classic whines of the machinery, the muttering of some men somehow heard above the noise)_

 **Voice1:** Come on, you stupid thing, show the damn tutorial already!

 **Voice2:** Look, are you sure we need the tutorial on how we use the Cryo-Virt pods? We can figure this out on our own, you know.

 **Voice3:** He's got all the reason to pull up the tutorial. We'd be idiots with those things and probably make them explode if we don't. Plus, with a kitchen-shelf-for-brains like you, you're going to need it more than we do.

 **Voice1:** Thank you. Now let's see if this thing will show us how to use it…

 **Tania:** _(slightly computerized accent, cheery tone)_ Welcome to the tutorial of the Cryo-Virt, a member of McCoy Industries! I am Tania, your personal guide on making sure that you are comfortable in your personal fantasy world, while also retaining your beautiful looks for the future you are to awake in!

 _(_ **Voice1** , **Voice2** , **Voice3** , **Voice4** _and_ **Voice5** _groan with disgust and annoyance)_

 **Voice4:** _(cringingly)_ This loser video is way too cheesy for words. Can't we skip parts of it?

 **Voice5:** _(impatiently) Hold kjeft_ B _,_ we don't want to miss anything important.

 **Tania:** What is Cryo-Virt? Well, I'm very sure you already know, _(she chuckles)_ but just to make sure, it is a hybrid combination of cryogenic stasis and a virtual reality simulator, all in one! The Cryo-Virt can sustain a living human being for over thousands of years with the vitamins, fluids and supplements while also retaining the youth you have now and will have in the future!

 **Voice2:** Are you sure we can't skip the tutorial?

 **Voice1:** Shut up, rock-chin. We need this.

 **Tania:** The 'Virt' part of Cryo-Virt doesn't have to entirely be a virtual reality, either! If you're confident that your real home can withstand the test of time, then you can have hard-light-holograms of yourself roaming around, socialising and enjoying the best of the present, while your real self is safely stored away, ready to be awakened in the future!

 **Voice3:** …using this place as the grounds for their virtual reality could save us a lot of time, actually…

 **Tania:** Feel like your face is too old for the future? Not to worry, we can restore your youth as you rest! You can set how many years you want off your body, and we can peel them away within a matter of years! When you wake up, it'll be as if you had fallen asleep at the bright age of 21, not 81!

 _(lame TV audience laughter, exaggerated gagging noises similar to a pug from_ **Voice4** _are heard)_

 **Voice1:** …I think we just watched the introduction video of the tutorial.

 **Voice2:** Oh, so now we skip it?

 **Voice5:** _Hold kjeft,_ it was a mistake. Once we're done with that tute, we should be able to have the coding up for certain memories not to be found and the boarders up so that they don't touch this thing.

 **Voice2:** What if they manage to get through those?

 **Voice5:** With our retaliation coding they won't. They'll hit, ah, a very large blank in their mind, if they do. Very pixelated and painful, I can unfortunately assure that. Also, someone turn off that idiotic tape recorder. I feel like someone's watching…

 ** _END TAPE_**

* * *

 ** _NEXT TIME, ON THE MYSTERY OF EAGLE'S CROSS:_**

* * *

"PLEASE!"

* * *

It's too late.

* * *

"All or nothing now, Em."


	15. Chapter 13

**Ah yes, the part of the story where the music picks up again with Echo by JubyPhonic thrown on repeat for this chapter.**

 **And hoo boy you're all gonna be in for one hell of a feels ride tonight!**

 **Cora and Emily and this plot belongs to me. Everything else belongs to the respective owners.**

 **EDIT: Also, after reading this chapter, listen to Angels by Owl City and consider it a duet between Edd and Cora as well as an afterward straight after the end of these events.**

* * *

 _Day Five of Five for the celebration break._

* * *

Even the simple task of using the iDateHistory app on figuring the order of the diary pages seems to be tainted, no, _marinated_ , with the sickening feeling on what might be behind the secret door. Not even the attempts to focus on the crazy loops of Tord's old handwriting can distract me from the faint yet constant buzzing.

Three minutes later, I'm relieved to be back on the living room floor with the pages sorted out and bound together to be read as a proper book.

Unfortunately, my skill of reading Tord's ridiculous handwriting hasn't improved since I first discovered it a month and a day ago, so it's up to my Norweigan not-so-dead ancestor to crack the code of his written mess.

"Cora, are you sure about this? If I get the headaches again-"

"I'm here. We're gonna do this so we can refer to it when we're back in the research tomorrow. I have my notebook too, so you can pause and say it to me to clear your head while I write it down."

"Alright then. How much do you want me to read before we pause and you write?"

"Ehh, two-to-three sentences should be good enough."

"Cool. Let's get down to business."

10 seconds later, it's a one-way track to disaster.

Tord sucks a sharp breath with his teeth while clenching a fist. I take it as my first cue to start writing.

"You ready to-"

"Cora, please! I'm starting to understand things now! I'm on the brink of figuring it out! I can feel it!"

"But-"

"Not no-oow!"

I shake my head in disbelief, terror and despair, my heart starting to pound as Tord keeps on reading without a stop, the headaches becoming visibly worse and worse from every reaction he has to them.

I know that any attempts to stop him are impossible, but the sharp breathing turns into yells, and yells into screams and cries of pain.

I'm shivering and shaking so much from horror that tears start falling down my face and I desperately keep repeating "No, no, no! Tord! Stop, please!" over and over.

He's on his hands and knees as he desperately keeps on reading the pages, shivering and shaking more and more violently as his screams of pain become more and more of the sound of a wild animal being tortured.

I don't think I can take it anymore, but then he finally looks up at me and a petrified scream is stuck in my throat as I slowly start moving back, standing up as my hands push me up from the couch and my legs backing me closer to the wall.

His face is pixelating violently.

Small and huge chunks of his face are messed up as if they're a virus-encoded computer program, but I really do let out a scream when my eyes stare at the reflection in the giant mirror.

He's not pixelated, but mirror-Tord has visible tear streaks down his face, eyes full of pain and fear, lips moving as they try to scream "Help me" over and over. It's then when I finally find my voice in a yell.

"Tord, stop! Please! You're going too far!"

"No! Must…argh! Keep…on-oooooooow!"

"PLEASE!"

"Can't-…argh! Stop…no-ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow!"

He turns his face back to the pages, his entire body starting to pixelate just as I think I can't take it anymore and that it can't get much more terrifying.

It gets a hundred times worse.

Emily bursts in the house, terrified look and tears on her face just as we hear the horrified screams of pain from the others, being dragged by some invisible virtual force and conjoin with Tord into one pixelated cluster.

"NO! NO! THIS CAN'T BE!"

Me and Em can only sob, shiver and clench onto each other as we stare petrified, switching between the pixelated cluster of screams and the crews crying and clutching their heads in pain in the mirror, begging for help. Through both of these, we can still see a flash of red still trying to stay near the diary pages.

"TORD, PLEASE! STOP!"

It's too late.

The pixelated mess vanishes in a flash of light before going out and the crews in the mirror start fading out like an echo, one by one.

Tord is last to go. He's managing to stand as he fades, but as he does so, my reflection changes.

My hoodie turns red, my hair a light shade of brown and my eyes brown-green.

Tord-me has a heavily tortured expression on their face, banging on their side of the mirror with a tightly-clenched fist, tears streaming from their eyes as I can manage the word 'basement' from their silent screams.

Basement?

They press their hand on their side, and I place mine over it as they slowly flicker away, leaving my normal reflection behind as Em and I lose the ability to use our voices.

I fall to my knees in disbelief, tear specks blurring up my glasses, numbness starting to set in as I puff for air.

We saw our ancestors suffer the worst pain they ever had for a long time while vanishing from us, all thanks to Tord reading the diary pages, who was being goaded on to do so…

By me.

Me!

ME!

The realisation hits me in the gut as I suck in a breath, similar to Tord when he started to read the pages in full.

"It's all my fault," I manage out in a broken whisper, suddenly feeling a thundering anger storm inside my chest as I stand. My hands begin to shake at the realisation, "It's all my fault!"

"Cor, no. It's-"

"MY FAULT! YOU DON'T GET IT EMILY!"

"CORA, I DO! I-"

"DON'T GET IT! I'M THE ONE WHO TOLD HIM TO READ THOSE PAGES THAT MADE THIS HAPPEN! I'M THE ONE WHO DID THIS!

"I'M THE ONE WHO DRAGGED EVERYONE INTO SEARCHING FOR THIS STUPID EAGLE'S CROSS OPERATION! I'M THE ONE WHO ENCOURAGED YOU WITH THOSE THEORIES! I'M THE ONE WHO GOT TOO CURIOUS! YOU DON'T GET IT, IT'S MY FAULT! _IT'S MY FAULT! **IT'S MY FAULT!** "_

I storm into the kitchen, snatching and shaking up three colas from the fridge before glaring viciously at the mirror with pure fury.

 _Pop. Hurl. Thunk. Fizz._

 _Pop. Hurl. Crack. Fizz._

 _Pop. Hurl. Crash. Fizz._

The anger fizzes away like the exploded cola cans and mirror shards all on the floor, the sugary liquid being absorbed into the carpet alongside my fury that coursed my bloodstream mere seconds ago.

I collapse back on my knees, hiccupping out sobs and puffing in air as I watch the tears from my face drip onto my jeans, my chest shallowly rising and falling.

"I…I'm so sorry…" I whisper, "Come back. Please."

I wipe the teardrops from my glasses before I ignore the pain and bleeding of the cut as I hold a mirror shard in my palm, staring at my puffy red eyes and my glistening cheeks.

Somehow finding comfort in this, I pick out the similar ancestral traits I have in my hairstyle: Edd's fringe, Matt's ends, two small back spikes from Tom and the curve-back at the front from Tord. My breathing becomes deeper and slows down a little.

"Cor…that was terrifying."

"I know."

"No, I meant the way you…you snapped. It was a lot like…your dad."

I hiccup with sobs again and my heart sinks into my stomach as fear and shock make goosebumps raise high on my skin.

"I-I-I-I'm sorry…I di-didn't know th-that I could b-be so…monstrous…"

"…It's alright, Cor. I'm here." She sits down next to me and squeezes me tight in a hug and I don't hesitate to accept it. "I forgive you. But we need to clear our heads and pull ourselves together now. The important thing here is that Tord _must've_ said something to you before he vanished. Can you remember what it was?"

The buzzing from below, now louder than before, is what drowns out the white noise and the silence when my words fail me. Em has a grim and determined look of resolve on her face and I hate what's coming up next.

"…Looks like mirror cleanup's going to have to wait."

I manage to nod and let out a shaky breath.

"All or nothing now, Em."

* * *

The fact that Em and I have Tord's pistols in our pockets and torches in our hands does not stop me from adding a new event to the list of things I loathe in life: running down dark staircases behind secret doors while being shellshocked from a previous event.

Add a hastily bandaged ever-bleeding palm that keeps throbbing and pulsing with every movement to the mix and I'm well on the way to fainting from fear.

"Once we're done with what we have to do here," Em manages out, "It's gonna be over and done with for good. Well, well, well, we've found our sound source. Isn't that the size of America or what?"

I stare around in the room that is now dimly illuminated by our flashlights and an old yet massive supercomputer screen on the right-hand side, loud whirring filling the whole room with a sense of dreading fear, as if saying: _You shouldn't have come here, now you're going to pay._ I force my focus to the middle of the room and make out seven large block-like figures, like old 21st-Century tanning beds.

"More like a computer the size of America AND what…" I nod my head to the tanning-bed figures that seem to be…vibrating?

My mind, despite its freshly shaken state, starts to race through the mental notes of Eagle's Cross — and something begins to click into place.

Could this be...?

"I don't think we're ready to head to those things just yet…let's check if that computer has what we think it has."

Fighting my urges to either run out of this place screaming or be easily drawn to the tanning beds and look at what's inside them, I nod and we stand in front of the computer screen's login page, only for our hearts to sink deeper into our stomachs and slow to a freezing standstill.

There is not only one login username for my dad, but another four more for Thomas Ridgewell IV, Matthew Hargraves IV, Thorfrid Larsson IV and Johannes Brock.

A tiny squeak is all Em can make before she swallows.

"They…they were all in this? They all know about Eagle's Cross? Even my own dad…"

"It doesn't make any sense…" I manage, shaking my head in horror, but I try to pull myself together, wiping my face with a sleeve and inhaling a deep shaky breath. "We have to get into this system to kill this mystery for good and grab our boys back. But I don't think my hacking skills with 21st-Century videogames are gonna work."

As if on cue, a new link pops up underneath the Johannes Brock account.

 ** _CREATE NEW ACCOUNT_**

Em manages to find the dusty old mouse and clicks the link with a gulp.

 ** _PLEASE DISPENSE A SAMPLE OF BLOOD TO CREATE INSTANT ACCOUNT_**

"Are you kidding me?" She hisses as a vial pops out of the side of the screen and is held out in front of us, but I'm already ripping the bandage off my bleeding hand with my teeth when she grabs my wrist. "Cora, no! What if it gets infected?!"

"Emily, this is nothing. It's the 22nd Century. Medicine can cure this. And if it's a trap or whatnot, what other choice do we have to act on the spot?"

She releases her grip and I let the blood from my hand drip and flow into the vial until it is half-full, when the lid closes and the vial retracts back into the computer.

 ** _DNA DATA ANALYSED…27%_**

After carefully rewrapping the bandage on my hand, Em and I silently agree to see what's in those tanning beds as the computer loads. But as we shine our flashlights towards them, fear pricks goosebumps up on our skin as we quickly realise they aren't tanning beds.

For a start, they vibrate irregularly, which is something that machinery wouldn't do. They each have the Omega symbols on the bases and I find windows at the top half of the pods, sucking in a breath as I'm wiping the cool frost flakes with my bandaged hand.

"Tinted. Of damn course." I curse.

"What are those things?" Em asks as she tries to peer through the windows through her flashlight.

"I have no idea," I mutter, about to turn away when I hear something in the pod I'm close to. Em and I shine our lights on the window and somehow manage to see…

Someone writhing and screaming painfully inside.

"That explains the vibrating…"

They're struggling hard against something and I take a step back when I see tiny, thin wires plugged into their head, neck and arms, snaking around and holding them down from breaking free.

I'm disturbed already, but I gulp and manage to ask Em to pull up the brightness on her torch as much as possible.

"Brightest it can get, you?"

"Same." I curse, "Let's just shine it straight down at their face. And see if we can find out who's in there…"

Glaring the torches down as close to the top of the window as we can and peering through the tinted glass, we manage to make out slightly swept-to-the-side chocolate brown hair, a fringe exactly like mine.

They manage to open their eyes for a split second, but I'd recognise that dark brown anywhere.

"Oh no…" Em gulps.

Not even soundproof glass can deter us from recalling the voice.

It's Edd.

Edd is in the Cryo-Virt.

* * *

"That just blows the sentient AI theory out the window," I find myself muttering, "And everything else…"

Quickly flashing our lights over the other windows of the pods, all the sound we can make is a terrified squeak at the same thing that is happening to the rest our crews, Tord noticeably being the one who is thrashing in his prison the most violently, despite how little his Cryo-Virt moves. As much as we want to blast through the glass with our pistols, we're scared that we're just going to throw them into a more intensified version of their personal hells.

"Why?" Em chokes out, "Why would they do this?"

Cold fear makes my heart turn icy with determination and I grip her hand.

"We'll get them outta here, we'll get 'em outta here." I reassure myself more than Em.

 ** _DNA DATA ANALYSED…100%_**

 ** _MASTER KEY FOUND: CORALINE GOULD._**

 ** _WELCOME TO YOUR CRYO-VIRT ACCOUNT, A BRANCH OF MCCOY INDUSTRIES._**

Our jaws drop open as we wrench our heads to the screen, now showing my name in massive bold letters next to four paired images of DNA graphs. At a closer look, the DNA is shown to be matched with Edd's, Tom's, Matt's and Tord's.

"Master key?" We manage out, "McCoy?! Like the old judge for the Pepper case?!"

 ** _ALL ADMIN PROPERTIES ARE SHIFTED TO ACCOUNT: CORALINE GOULD_**

 ** _MEMORY WIPE OF PAST: 6 MONTHS ON PRISONERS IN PROGRESS. THREE MINUTES REMAINING BEFORE AUTO-CONFIRMATION AND ACTIVATION_**

 ** _WHAT DO YOU WISH TO DO?_**

The icy determination melts into a warm, stubbornly-increasing hope as we share a glance.

"Three minutes to till this this thing hits 100% and they'll never remember us…"

"All or nothing, Em." I snap, snatching the mouse and double-clicking the 'Awaken Customers' icon. "Customers my ass. Maybe we can cancel the memory wipe if we do this…"

 ** _PLEASE FILL OUT A FEW QUESTIONS BEFORE CONFIRMATION._**

"You're kidding me!" Em hisses, but we have relief when we see that there are two sections and the questions are only short yes-or-no ones. "Remember those pop quizzes we killed off back in Year One?" She asks with a shivery sigh. I nod.

"Wasn't the record two and a half minutes? Let's go and beat it."

 ** _SECTION ONE: EJECTION_**

 ** _TIME LEFT ON MEMORY WIPE PREPARATION AND AUTO-CONFIRMATION: 2 MINUTES, 52 SECONDS_**

 ** _QUESTION ONE: DO YOU WISH THAT CUSTOMERS BE INSTANTLY AWOKEN UPON EJECTION?_**

 _Yes._

 ** _QUESTION TWO: DO YOU WISH TO HAVE CUSTOMERS BE EJECTED IN THEIR PHYSICAL REAL AGE OF: EARLY 100'S?_**

Em gags like a pug at the question and we share a disgusted look before answering.

 _No._

 ** _QUESTION THREE: DO YOU WISH TO HAVE CUSTOMERS BE EJECTED IN THEIR PHYSICAL AGE THEY FIRST ATTENDED CRYO-VIRT: EARLY 40'S?_**

I share a glance and we shake our heads at once. Too weird to have them at that age…

 _No._

 ** _QUESTION FOUR: DO YOU WISH TO HAVE CUSTOMERS BE EJECTED IN THE PHYSICAL AGE THEIR AVATARS ARE IN: EARLY 20'S?_**

"Thank God." We sigh in relief.

 _Yes._

 ** _QUESTION FIVE: DO YOU WISH FOR CUSTOMERS TO BE EJECTED FULLY CLOTHED IN THE ATTIRE THEY FIRST ATTENDED CRYO-VIRT?_**

"They're naked in those things?!"

Again with the gagging pug sounds, this time from yours truly.

"Ew! Why is that even a question…" I shake my head.

 _Yes._

 ** _SECTION ONE COMPLETE. LOADING ANSWERS TO ACTION CENTRE…_**

 ** _LOADING COMPLETE. 1 MINUTE, 58 SECONDS UNTIL AUTO-CONFRIMATION OF MEMORY WIPE._**

"You're kidding." I hiss, "So flippin' slow, this is just cheating by teacher's standards!"

"It's a machine Cor, not a human. It can cheat all it wants to. We just have to be fast enough."

 ** _SECTION TWO: MEMORY_**

 ** _TIME LEFT ON MEMORY WIPE PREPARATION AND AUTO-CONFIRMATION: 1 MINUTE, 48 SECONDS_**

 ** _QUESTION ONE: DO YOU WISH TO OVERRRIDE THE ULTRA-LOCKED MEMORIES OF CUSTOMER: THORFRID LARSSON AND RESTORE THEM?_**

 _Yes._

 ** _QUESTION TWO: DO YOU WISH CUSTOMERS TO RETAIN MEMORIES DURING THEIR TIME IN CRYO-VIRT?_**

 _Yes._

 ** _QUESTION THREE: DO YOU WISH ALL CUSTOMERS TO HAVE MEMORY UNLOCKED AND RESTORED?_**

 _Yes._

 ** _SECTION TWO COMPLETE. LOADING ANSWERS TO ACTION CENTRE…_**

 ** _LOADING COMPLETE. 54 SECONDS UNTIL AUTO-CONFRIMATION OF MEMORY WIPE._**

 ** _WARNING: THESE ACTIONS WILL OVERRIDE MEMORY WIPE AND MAY CAUSE COMPUTER VULNRABLE TO MALWARE AND/OR OVERHEAT._**

 ** _CONTINUE AND CONFIRM?_**

 _Yes._

 ** _CANCELLING MEMORY WIPE…_**

"Come on…"

 ** _23 SECONDS UNTIL AUTO-CONFIRMATION OF MEMORY WIPE…_**

"Don't tell us we've failed it and didn't break our record now, you loser pile of ancient bricks!"

 ** _10 SECONDS UNTIL AUTO-CONFIRMATION OF MEMORY WIPE…_**

"Come on you stupid thing…"

 ** _5 SECONDS…_**

 ** _4 SECONDS…_**

 ** _3…_**

"NO!"

 ** _2…_**

"DON'T DO THIS NOW AFTER WE'VE COME SO FAR!"

 ** _1…_**

"IT'S ALL OR NOTHING, DON'T TELL US WE'VE GOT NOTHING!"

 ** _MEMORY WIPE CANCELLED_**

 ** _MEMORIES RESTORED_**

We scream.

 ** _BEGINNING EJECTION OF CUSTOMERS…THANK YOU FOR USING CRYO-VIRT!_**

One part being the excitement of saving our crews at last…

 ** _WARNING: MALWARE DETECTED! OVERHEAT INEVITABLE!_**

The other being that the computer starts to fire sparks.

* * *

For a moment, we're too stunned to move, but when the electricity starts to fly and almost hit us, we make no hesitation to leap over the now violently-shaking Cryo-Virts to escape to a safe distance away from the computer.

Unfortunately during the scuffle of parkouring over, I fall on my face a few times and I hear the sound of glass cracking through the chaos before realising that my eyesight is fractured and everything is in multiples.

"Em! Where are you? I can't see!"

She grabs my hand and yanks me down behind Edd's Cryo-Virt, the furthest away from the computer, cursing when she sees the damage done to my lenses.

"The frames are lopsided too. They were a gift from Gemma in Year Ten when we were broke, right?"

"Unfortunately."

 ** _WARNING: POSSIBILITY OF EXPLOSION DUE TO OVERHEAT._**

"WHAT?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW?!"

I glance at my hoodie pocket and realise that I had a firearm the entire time.

Then, a crazy plan forms in my head.

Taking in a short breath for a loss of dignity, I drop the torch and fire the pistol at the corrupted machine, despite my cracked aim and vision.

"What are you doing Coraline?!" Em screams.

"If I can fire at the right point, I can stop the computer from blowing us all to bits! I can smack the circuit out so that it stops completely!"

"Are you crazy?! That thing's our only chance of getting these guys out of here, blowing to bits or not!"

"If this thing isn't deactivated in SOME way, that thing will kill us all! There's no chance of us getting any damn close to that thing, the only way possible to deactivate it is by bullet!"

 _All or nothing, Em. All or nothing._

With a gulp and a look that reveals her intentions to punch me in the face after, she raises her pistol and we fire away at the computer, with the massive hard drive now starting to alight.

Somehow, she's a much better shot than I am.

 _Bang! Crash!_

Sparks and flames fly out at once and the hard drive is burning from the inside after the screen blows out and shatters. We run to stamp out the flames, but our hearts sink when we see the unnatural vibrations of the Cryo-Virts slowing down to nothing.

"No…"

The loud whirring that once came from the hard drive dies down; only white noise fills the room as everything darkens, leaving the light of our torches nearby Edd's Cryo-Virt.

For some reason, my finger reflexes on the trigger and I notice that Em's does too.

 _Click._

 _Click._

Empty.

The guns clatter on the floor as they fall out of our hands; the only thing we can do now is slump against the wall and catch our exhausted breath, inhaling the wisps of smoke coming from the hard drive.

I pull off my glasses and try to look at Em's now-blurred face.

"After all we've done…" she whispers hoarsely, "Did we win nothing? Was it even worth it?"

I lay an arm on her shoulder and pull her into a hug.

I'm too scared to admit it.

I don't want to.

"Did…did we, Cor? Did we just lose?"

She's shaking as I grip on her tighter, clenching my eyes shut. Our tiny, hiccupping sobs are all that seems to be heard through the white noise now. I feel her hot tears sink through my hoodie and shirt, onto my skin. My own tears seem to burn as they stream down my face, our bodies too tired and numb with exhaustion to move.

 _Please._

 _Come out._

 _I don't want you to die._

* * *

The white noise drowns out our weeping, all we can do is grip onto each other and share our grief as tears keep pouring down. Soon, I can no longer smell the smoke of the hard drive or hear the ringing of the white noise, but instead hear soft footprints.

We loosen each other out of the hug and open our eyes to look around for the source, but our flickering torchlight from the other side of the room only shows seven standing silhouettes. Some upright and alert, the others slumping a little as they use the Cryo-Virts as support.

"No way…" I hear Emily whisper, "It can't be…"

I don't believe it either, and my mind hits the next best logical thing as my heart starts to beat 88 miles an hour.

"Cora? Emily?"

One sounds like Uncle Matthew.

"Is that you?"

Uncle Thomas.

"Are you okay?"

Why, of all people, would my dad ask _that?_

One of the flashlights is shone in our direction, I squint and cover my eyes to avoid being blinded.

"Your glasses are broken." Dad remarks and I suck in a breath for the first angry blow, holding back as many tears as possible. I grip on Em's hand for support and she squeezes back.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Dad, leave me alone. Back off, all of you. Can't you see what I've just gone through?!"

"What are you talking about?"

My hands begin to shake violently and heat starts to rise in my chest. I let go of Em's hand, but I don't dare open my eyes to look at him.

"I've just witnessed the death of our ancestors you asshole, and you were the one who set them up with that fu-"

A figure seems to swoop me up into a hug and grips tightly onto me as I start to shiver and shake from fear, but the reassurance of a hand rubbing my spine is what stops my jittering anger inside, replacing it with a mixture of melancholy and relief as I hug back. To my side, I can feel Em's presence being swept up into a hug by someone else as her sobs are muffled in their clothes.

"Shhh, shh. It's okay. Coraline, listen to me. I don't know what you and Emily did back there, but you've done it and we're all so proud of you two. You've saved our lives. Your dad's not here, I am. Emily's here. You're here. We're all here."

Now Em and I are really sobbing as I bury myself into the slightly chilled hoodie as more bodies squeeze us all in as one plush, soft and slightly cold group hug as I manage to open my eyes and find my field of vision filled with a sort of green that I can barely make out in the flickering torchlight as we start to make our way up the stairs.

It's not my green.

It's not my green.

Thank God it's not my green.


	16. Chapter 14

**'OH MY GOD PANDA YOU'RE POSTING ON THURDAY AUSTRALIAN TIME, NOT FRIDAY!111!'**

 **Hey, I'm heading to Sydney for a long weekend and I'm unsure if there's internet at the hotel room. You can't blame me for that!**

 **The songs for this chapter are:**

 **Golden by Fall Out Boy**

 **The Kids Aren't Alright by Fall Out Boy**

 **Fight Song by Rachel Platten**

 **The explanation for these songs will be on the end of the chapter since they'll be kinda in-depth. And I don't want spoilers at the start of this thing.**

 **Once again, Cora, Em, Jaxx, Laurie, Lauren, Ed, Ell and the plot belong to me. Everything else belongs to the respective creators.**

* * *

 _Three weeks later…_

* * *

"Cor?"

"Yeah Tom?"

"Isn't it Matt's turn to do the dishes now? He says it's mine but that's not till after dinner."

"Yeah. Is he lazing in his junk again? Gah! Dammit Tord, I thought we said no knock-offs on Rainbow Road!"

"Well, I lied. Matt, get your behind down here before-"

"Fine, fine, I'm coming! Edd, Emily and Eduardo were helping me repair the broken stuff and sort out what to sell online!"

"Matt Hargraves repairing and selling his junk on the internet in the 22nd century? Coraline Gould wearing her hoodie around her waist? Emily Brock having her hair out? What is this world coming to?" Tom sighs dramatically.

"OI!"

I can't help but burst out laughing. Mainly at the pouty face Matt has as he stomps down the stairs, because it looks exactly like mum when she's in a grump. Except the creases in his face would make him look about 80 years older and the bright ginger hair kinda shatters all relation to mum.

"HA! Got you back, Tord!"

"Argh! _Faen!_ Looks like Edd's hand-me-down glasses are working way too well for you."

"Matt and Tom's pairs didn't do anything for me. I'm actually surprised that Edd's are working, especially since it's literally a hundred years since anybody last used them. Plus, all the clothes I'm wearing are hand-me-downs from you guys anyway. These are a pair of Matt's jeans and Tom's shoes, so I've discovered. Even my hoodie is actually Edd's."

"Speaking of Edd-DAMMIT, not again-how's the sleeping arrangement going between you two? Is one on the floor and one on the bed or are you sharing it? I haven't been paying much attention since I'm trying to process all my memory that I just got back. Also, you sure you're not cold with that hoodie around your waist?"

"We're lucky it's a king-sized double and we have decent PJs. Awkward the first few nights but we're surprised that Eduardo's idea worked well for us as for him and Em. And…I'm fine without it on."

"You don't sound alright." He pauses the race, just as we're on the edge of the finish line, "Any news from Laurie recently?"

"No. I'm not entirely alright and there hasn't been any news from her since she told us that Felix was the mole. I'm worried about her. I told her that she had to keep her head up to survive two months with our dad before I left, but she's 16 and hasn't seen what I've seen in the business so far. How dad blackmails people to send and hold cola, the multiple times we've nearly been caught by one of my uncles or their colleagues and…"

"And what?"

"…how he punishes us if he thinks we're slacking off."

He looks concerned, but whatever I've just told appears to have somewhat little effect.

"Your dad isn't here right now, we are. And I know you're concerned for your sister, but there's grey circles under your eyes. You sure you're getting enough sleep?"

I grip on the controller and stare at the buttons, but he places a hand on my shoulder and gently lifts my face to meet his. I sigh in small defeat and shake my head.

"Ever since we rescued you from down there…I…I keep getting nightmares that make me wake up bolt upright with a pounding heart…sometimes I even scream…"

"Does Edd hear you when you scream?"

"Always. He's a better parent than my actual dad," I smile a little, "He hugs me and rubs my back a little before I calm down and fall asleep dreamlessly. And I don't wear the hoodie because every time I do…I feel like I'm putting on my fear and terror I had back down there on me and it makes my heart pound. I just kinda feel a little free-er without it."

He raises an eyebrow.

"Is that why Em is wearing a t-shirt instead of a turtleneck, as well as pulling up her sleeves and letting down her hair?"

I nod.

He ruffles my hair with a warm grin before kissing me on the forehead, unpausing the game and winning the race. I don't care though, life is definitely better than it was a month and three weeks ago.

"Nine more days," I mumble, "And two months are up. I'll be able to really get out the business. If I can convince my dad, I can even pull Laurie out of this. That disownment threat means nothing now since the house is in my property and I've got you guys."

"Are you saying that we could disown your dad?"

"Why not?" I giggle, "It'd be hilarious. Also, how much money d'you think Matt's gonna make out of that pile of crap up there?"

"WE JUST GOT 50 MILLION POUNDS FROM THE SALES AND OH MY GOD MATT'S ROOM IS SO MUCH CLEANER THAN BEFORE!"

"Holy emergency on a hovercar, Em! Did you just-"

"I just did~!" Em sings as she slides down the bannister and sweeps me up from the couch in a hug, me squeaking in surprise as she giggles uncontrollably.

"Are you serious Em?! 50 million pounds?!"

"Matt's hoarding payed off! Payment for the teleportation and restoration whipped away 5 million, but who cares? The real big boys that brought in the dough were the mirror's frame, the 19th Century wedding dress, the pool table-"

"Em, Em! Calm down! I still need to get my head around 50 million pounds in our bank accounts!"

I steal a glance back at Tord, Tom and Matt, their jaws wide open at the new fact of being 50 million pounds richer than before.

"Did you know that mirror frame was 24-karat gold-plated over platinum? That's the thing that REALLY got us up to 50 freaking million."

I stare at Matt, who's just passed out on the floor at the fact that he had hoarded a mirror worth who-knows-how-much-money for nearly the past century.

I'm shivering in excitement, a giggle escapes from my throat.

"Dad is totally going to lose it."

"No he won't, we'll never tell our parents that a shared 50 million pounds are in our possession and that we've probably bankrupted the economy."

"That's not gonna stay secret for long," Edd points out, also sliding down the bannister of the stairs before falling on his face, "The news are gonna go crazy over it once they get the first sniff of a big-dough scoop."

"And then once it's out…we're really baked." I finish. Everyone groans. Edd and I share a grin.

"So we gotta blow enough of this before it's too late."

"Maybe we could-"

The sounds of hovercars landing outside wipe the excited mood to nothing.

* * *

"There's four of them landing in," Em reports from the window, frowning. "One is Jasper's. Two of them belong to the twins and Jaxx, don't they? The other, I don't know. Someone's just jumped out."

That's odd.

"What's going on?" Edd asks.

A rapid knocking on the door doesn't give much of an answer.

"No idea. Guys, head up to the attic and don't come down here till I say so. Keep quiet as you can and try to listen out for anything wrong. Em, you're sticking with me, right?"

"Cora? I-i-is that you in there?"

Laurie.

It's Laurie outside the door.

She doesn't sound good.

"Go!" Em hisses, but the boys don't need it when they bolt up the stairs as I open the door and am nearly tackled down by a 5'5 figure.

"Cora!"

"Laurie! How-" I don't finish the sentence as I take a better look at my little sister and my jaw drops in shock.

Laurie's curly browny dark-blonde hair has three streaks of vibrant, bright blue.

Her jaw drops as well when we break from the hug and she stares at my hair.

"Where's your streak?"

"I quit, Laurie. Man. Looks like the tables have turned."

"I hate the streaks, Cor. I hate them so much! Dad almost…" Her voice breaks and she's burying herself in my shirt.

"Mrs G? Jaxx? Ed and Ell? What are you guys doing here? It's not two months over yet! Where's dad?"

Mum's weary face still allows a warm smile as Jaxx helps her with bringing out her luggage, but even from a distance I can tell that her blue eyes have some sort of alarm and worry in them. For a few seconds, I can see streaks of grey popping out amongst the long and wavy brownish-strawberry-blonde hair, wondering where had the years flown by when they seemed so agonizingly slow.

The sight of Jaxx's cracked lenses is what pulls me out of the temporary relief.

"Um, Jaxx?"

"Before you go on Cor, I can see just fine. It's just that the riots at Ox and Cambridge have just gone too out of hand. Pity that we couldn't grab our assignments…"

"Guys, this isn't giving Cora or me any decent explanation-"

"Em! Was there anything in your house too?"

"Ed, you're not betting on this still, are you-"

"Can everyone just shut up?"

All eyes are me now, stunned looks evident on faces that the shy and anxious sister/daughter is now in a leadership position. I'll admit, I've stunned myself too, but it doesn't show on my face.

"Look. I know a lot has happened on both sides and that Em and I have shaken up appearances, but we all owe each other an explanation, don't we? Leave your bags at the front door and we'll head in and talk this over one by one. We've both missed out on a lot of things and we all need to know."

As Em takes in Laurie to the living room, I help my siblings, mum and Jasper with grabbing the bags from the boots of the cars when the latter pulls me to the side and hands me a package.

"Once I got through the firewalls-"

"Firewalls? Plural? Dad has multiple firewalls?"

"-It was a real piece of cake. I had to get through the family one to get to the main one that you would've been hacking at. Anyway, that's the journal and folder that that your dad was looking for from the past two months, but the book had only one entry from him and a lot of pages were torn out. The other author has some really bad handwriting. Loads of good stuff from the folder though. Funnily enough, I found them in my room with a box of things that pop Paul left for me before he passed."

Opening the package, I see that a hardcover A5 book is on top of a manila folder, the book having the title of:

 **EG IV**

 **DIARY**

 **20 OCTOBER 2088**

 **—**

Underneath it, I can see that the folder has been stamped with a red 'TOP SECRET' on it, as well as black, large writing with the name 'EAGLE'S CROSS.' Peeking through the journal, I notice that a large amount of pages have been torn out and something begins to click into place.

"How did he get his hands on those?"

"I don't know, but if they help you, I guess you better take them."

"Thanks Jas."

"Take care kiddo."

I smile as I watch Jasper fly off into the sky for the fourth time in my Durdum Lane life, before it's quickly wiped off as I follow Jaxx back into the house.

There are just some things that research can't solve.

* * *

"So, let's get this from the top: the three of you received an assignment all at the exact same time time, one each from the police force?"

"Yes."

"Definitely."

"Absolutely."

"And there was the strong implication that we weren't going to be able to bail out of it." Jaxx furthers, "At Oxford, they all kept talking about how I was so sure that I'd want to do that and not my other projects. Also, they said they saw a large amount of potential for me when I tried to tell them about the other kids who had higher grades and better papers than me. Those who had forever straight A's. But no, they wanted me."

"Same deal for you two at Cambridge?"

The twins nod.

"Topping it off, they cancelled our other assignments that we were so close to handing in."

"How long were you guys given?"

"They didn't specify, only said 'a while.' Same thing on Jaxx's side, I think. I'm gonna bet that they wanted us for a few decades." Ed mutters.

"Stop exaggerating. Jaxx, you first. What sort of assignment were you given by the cops?"

"Well, since I had done that course on atom structure, I learnt a lot about all sorts of atoms, and the photons, or atoms of light, were a major part. My assignment was to find a way to have a sort of laser or force of energy coming from a semi-concentrated gamma ray beam topped with a little electricity and Ultraviolet light that could somehow activate certain genes to do certain things to a human body. The Gamma part was for emergencies though since it's kinda uncontrollable and invisible, so it was mainly made out of the ultraviolet light and electricity combo."

"Like, when you mention genes can do certain things to a human body, you mean genes that burn people up or…?"

"Kinda. Genes that could somehow activate a cold sore or even maybe the Black Plague, if I'm going too far. I think I mentioned that last one because it's REALLY getting to my head. But basically, they wanted to see if they had some sort of laser that's seemingly harmless on first contact, but actually can kill them within a short amount of time."

"I can't believe they forced you to do that…"

"Don't get me thinking on it again. I managed to finish up some blueprints, notes and a few tests within the week before the riots got too much and I had to ditch all work behind to speed home, only to find that Laurie's-well, you know."

"…I think Ed and I should explain our assignments now. I was lucky enough to catch some slack because I had my period and pretended I always had cramps, but the assignment I had was to create a sort of handgun that would extend out the wrist and fire a concentrated shot at will on targets. It also had to be freely moving, 360-degree movement in every direction, but I never got to do that part before the riots started getting REALLY rowdy. I only had what Jaxx had too: blueprints, notes and a couple tests. It's almost the same for Ed, I think. But well…his is more…disturbing, from what he's told me on the ride here."

Ed twiddles his thumbs and bites his lip, legs crossing each other as his face is lightly a little more in the colour-co-ordination of his light pastel-blue hoodie.

"Ed, you gotta tell us."

"I…I was forced to make the T-1000 from Terminator 2, basically."

 _"What."_

"Actually, they told me to make some sort of android that can look human and morph itself into different forms to avoid suspicion, but I took it as the T-1000, so yeah."

"Did you actually do it?"

"No, not really. I had a few lame bits and pieces of a skeleton and facial emotions made out of crappy metal, and tonnes of blueprints and notes taken down, but it was nothing compared to what I've heard from Jaxx and seen from Ell."

"Okay. So to recap: You all had received an assignment from the cops all at the same time; Jaxx had that…laser thing, Ell had a sort of inbuilt wrist handgun and Ed had the Terminator. One question I forgot to ask earlier: Did ANY of you receive word from your uncles during that week?"

"…No, actually. Is there any meaning for that though?"

Em and I share a glance.

"I've got a theory," Em starts, "I think it's safe to assume that the police force is corrupted by what Thor Larsson's doing in politics these days. With his police connections, he's also influencing them too. Through brute force and threat, either one or both. Therefore, with this police corruption, he's trying to get the smartest people he knows into his plan, directly and indirectly."

"…Of course he would choose us."

"Exactly. You're the most scientifically smartest people that he knows of. He sent you guys those plans in the hopes that you would follow along and ship off the prototypes to him, so he can assemble possibly the worst killing machines of all history."

Em doesn't need to say anything else as the trio's faces grow pale. She only turns her head and looks at my little blue-streaked sister.

* * *

For a while, Laurie just stares at her feet, hugging herself while she tries to keep a straight face.

"If you want," Mum offers gently, "I can tell them what happened- "

"You weren't there when it all came crashing down on me, Lauren." She snaps back, "You don't know half of what went down there."

Mum's eyes narrow and her jaw tightens. If I don't step in…

"Both of you, enough. Laurie is a first-hand witness to what dad's done with her, but I know you mean well, mum. Laur, you ready to tell us?"

She takes a few deep breaths before sitting up straighter and leaning into the seat.

"It…it all started when he found out that I was trusting Felix with the Eagle's Cross research, but he didn't know it was the research at all. He thought it was mail secrets, but I protested that it wasn't."

"He didn't believe you?"

"He did. I was lucky. He gave me a pretty harsh warning though."

"Why would you start searching up Eagle's Cross-"

"Not now, mum. Laurie, please continue."

"Then later on…he found out that I was slacking on deliveries because I was more focused on school."

"Of course he'd be annoyed that you chose education over work. But it's the right choice, Laur."

"I don't know if it is…"

"It is. Just go on…"

"He…he didn't buy it and said that you managed to balance out the two without a hitch."

"Balderdash. He lied to you! I still remember having to finish assignments at one in the freaking morning just before the due date because he gave me so much work!"

Laurie's face is one of shock. Mum sadly nods in confirmation.

"Mm. I let her get away with it every time, Laur. I saw how many websites and articles she had up the first time I found her at her desk, so I let her off the hook since. I…I assumed you'd do the same…"

The guilty looks exchanged between both Laurs gives me big déjà vu of Matt, so I nudge the younger to continue her story.

"And then…I got so stupid..." Her voice catches in her throat and tears start to stream again, "I left the evidence that I forged the swapping of house rights on my desk and screenie while I took a nap."

"Wait, what?!"

"I forged the papers that said the ownership rights of the house are swapped to you. I knew that you needed to get out of the business somehow, so I thought I would kickstart it."

"You forged those papers? For me?"

"Took me…oh god…it took me ages to do it, all in the free time alongside the Eagle's Cross research…but I did it. Stole dad's credit card. Found a copy of the papers online. And a bunch of stuff I can't remember now…but the deadline for him to nab 'em back went off on the day I sent you that letter through Jasper…I read the confirmation email a week after and took out all the files that I used so I could delete it all off my hard drive…but I was so tired from working so hard on my math homework that I passed out…and…and…" Her voice breaks and she plunges herself into my arms, sobbing.

"Cutting a long story short…" Mum sighs, "It took him three weeks to think of a 'punishment,' but he gave her the disownment threat and forced a hair dye against her will. He was gonna do all of her hair that blue, streak by streak, like he said the original Laurel had…"

I shake my head in disbelief, sneaking a glance behind to see if the boys are watching.

"He's gone off the deep end. I mean, what he did to me before with all those stupid hours…but now it's too far. He's definitely gone too far. I would ask how you managed to get away, but…I guess…"

"It's time to talk about what you and Em did." Jaxx folds his arms, an eyebrow raised in curiosity, "Did you actually do anything else apart from playing video games with static?"

My throat clenches up, eyes darting around my family members, chest tightening.

 _Uh oh._

"Well?"

"Cora, can we come down n-ow! Why'd you hit me Tord?"

Em facepalms.

"Well, NOW you can come down. All of you. There's no holding back."

"HA! I TOLD YOU SO ELL!"

"Shut up. Cor, why do those guys look like our dad and uncles? And who's the one wearing one of Em's spare flannels?"

"Button-ups!"

"Whatever!"

"Edd, Tom, Matt, Tord and Eduardo O'Niell, meet my family, minus one asshole. Guys, meet your ancestors, minus Eduardo. He's Emily's ancestor."

"You're kidding me."

"Nah."

* * *

It takes a while, but Em and I manage to give a decent explanation on what had been happening at Durdum Lane. My direct family looks utterly gobsmacked, especially with the Cryo-Virt discovery, but mum has a look on her face that's a mix of satisfaction and some sort of grimness I can't quite put. Only as something that she knew what dad had been doing and what's been spilled out just now is the final confirmation.

As Em and I explain everything, I notice that my ancestors are taking a liking to certain family members, and vice-versa.

Laurie, for instance, is trying to warm up to Tom, sitting very close to him and leaning her head on his shoulder, but he looks relatively unconcerned. (Pun intended.)

Edd and Tord however, have squished mum in a sandwich on the larger couch, the twins are on both edges and squeezing the three even tighter.

Jaxx is the only one who looks somewhat uneasy sitting next to Matt and I don't blame him. The ginger looks like he's about to lay some heavy flirting, but if it's Matt's nature to sit like that in front of someone new, I can't stop that.

The day wears on as my mum and siblings settle themselves in, the twins sharing the attic with Matt, Tom being okay with sleeping on the floor while Laurie takes his bed, mum pulling the spare mattress to sleep nearby Tord and Jaxx taking the spare bedroom for himself.

Unfortunately, by the time that's all sorted, it's getting late and everyone's agreed to hit the hay early to get some extra sleep. Em and Eduardo head home as the others pass out into dreamland, Edd even snoring a little as he collapses on the pillow.

However, I'm being kept up again. I just can't seem to close my eyes, no matter how annoying the blurry darkness is.

Something inside me is just begging to stay awake.

But this time, it isn't some sort of nightmarish fear.

Pulling my glasses back on as I manage to sneak out of bed, I hear my phone gently vibrating on the bedside table. Yanking it off the table and managing to silently plonk myself into one of the couches of the living room, I roll my eyes when I see it's a text.

A text from all people…

Uncle Matthew.

He's asking if I could call him sooner or later, but I'm not ready to do that just yet.

I sneak close to Tom's open bedroom door and a smile faintly passes on my face as I see Laurie's chest slowly rising up and down.

Plopping back onto the couch, I find myself pushing the 'call' button next to Uncle Matthew's name.

"Cora! Long time, no see, eh? What are you doing up at this time of night?"

"You're lucky that I couldn't sleep."

"Heh. How's life been? I've heard you've moved out the pods and into the family home, right?"

"Yeah, I have."

"Lucky that your dad gave you the rights, huh?"

Oh Laurie. You'd be laughing now.

"I know, right? Hey, is Uncle Thomas with you?"

"Yeah. We just came back from a graveyard shift. Hey, is your dad around visiting?"

"No…"

"We've also been hearing rumours about him. Something about him being off the hook."

Oh great.

Hang on…what if I could…oh.

OH.

"You still there, Cor?"

"I'm here. Look, I know that you've been trying to arrest dad for a while because of, ahem, _certain_ charges, I'm not stupid."

"Dammit, how did you-"

"So what if I said that you could arrest him on totally different charges? Charges he wouldn't be able to worm his way out of?"

"Oh?"

I smirk before I reply and set my instructions.

I know I've lit the sole match. I know that the tiny flame just hit the fuse.

All I have to wait for now, is the explosion.

* * *

 **Why 'Golden' by FOB?**

 **I like this song because it's a sort of flashback song. It's a flashback of Cora's shame of her streak and her ties to Cola-smuggling. This time, it's Laurie who sings it within her shame. _'I saw God cry in the reflection of my enemies/...all of the mothers raise their babies to stay away from me/and pray they don't grow up to be.'_**

 **Why 'The Kids Aren't Alright' by FOB?**

 **It not only relates to what happened back in 13, _'Blessed be the boys time can't capture,'_ but the title of the song itself is a clear enough reason when we relate it with Laurie. It's a feeling of disbelief that Cora experiences when she sees her little sister emotionally battered by their father. She also finally accepts the new light that her father and uncles are seen in, stirring her anger: _'the black banners raised/and the crooked smiles fade/former heroes who quit too late/who just want to fill up the trophy case again._ '**

 **Why 'Fight Song' by Rachel Platten?**

 **It's a song of Cora's rising anger. Anger at her father, anger at her uncles, anger at the cola-smuggling business and the effects it had on her family. The lyric _'take back my life song'_ in the chorus is what deeply resonates with Cora, as well as the first verse/bridge. Especially the version of it near the final chorus, so softly played, waiting to blow it's top. _'I only have one match/but I can make an explosion.'_ Laurie is the match, Cora's anger is the fuse, and the confrontation in the next chapter is the explosion.**

 **When Cora gets mad, whoever's on the receiving end, they're definitely going to have a bad time.**


	17. Chapter 15

**Ah yes, the final chapter of Round Three. Once this is over, it's time for my posting break and more work on Eagle's Cross.**

 ** _nervously starts nomming away on sugar while watching Assassination Classroom, my new favourite anime_**

 **Ehehehe...**

 **Anyway, I think I'm nearly complete with chapter 18 in round four. But there's a change of plans: I've got 18's epilogue to write up, and I don't mean the finale.**

 **Song list for this chapter:**

 **Fight Song - Rachel Platten (reprise)**

 **They Don't Care About Us- 2Cellos Version (It sounds like a FOB I know but rest assured, it's MJ.)**

 **Awake and Alive - Skillet**

 **The Kids Aren't Alright - Fall Out Boy (reprise)**

 **Explanations for the songs below will be at the end of the chapter to avoid early spoilers.**

 **I only own Cora, Emily, Laurie, Lauren, Jaxx, Ed and Ell (the last five are only mentioned but hey why not) and the plotline. Everything else belongs to the respective creators.**

 **Hoo boy. This will be fun.**

* * *

 _The Next Day…_

* * *

I check the time on my phone, arms crossed, sighing in annoyance. Typical British behaviour, of course they're 10 minutes late. It's in their nature.

Glancing to the right, I take in the little relief of my mum and siblings enjoying the distraction that Em and I agreed on: a tour of her home. If it were awaiting for what's about to come, it would be more than no distraction.

I know my crew are waiting for the signal in the attic, fiddling around with Matt's junk before they'll have to start running down to my call…if I need it for what's about to happen.

I've noticed that for the past 20 minutes, my chest has been aching, but I'm guessing that's just due to the fear that's pounding in my heart and not going to my head. Still, my nerves are on edge.

However, the warmth from my face hasn't drained and my slow, deep breaths are in an even pattern.

My expression is calm and straight.

It's something other than fear that's stirring inside.

Something very, very warm.

My attention from the heated feeling is diverted when I spot the police hovervan landing in the street, but the way it skids and slides down the landroad makes me grateful I parked the other cars in the abandoned garages earlier.

"Finally." I mutter.

Well, at least uncles Matthew and Thomas are still proven to be horrible drivers.

* * *

The false smile that I used to crack at my law-abiding, distant relatives isn't there when they fall facefirst out the doors and onto the tarmac, my position unwavering and face straight as they wave at me before opening the back doors of their vehicle.

Well, Thomas opens them. Matthew walks straight towards me and pulls me in an awkward hug as I give him a deadpan look.

"Been a while hasn't it? What's with that face though?"

"You know why, y'old geezer."

"Hey! You should be talking to Uncle Thomas about that!"

"Anyway," Thomas butts in, striding over to the both of us, hand on one hip, "Your instructions last night were to arrest your dad on charges of Assault and Battery that he did to you and your siblings, then bring him over to here. Thanks for providing the evidence, including the direct stuff from you. Man, he was a tough one to catch. One question though, why did you want him here of all places? Apart from this place being your home now?"

I suck in a deep breath for five seconds before answering.

"I'm done with living under his terror and the lies he fed to me, mum and my siblings. I need to see if I can snap him back to his senses before he receives his sentence. He's the reason why I had that streak for so long. Now that it's gone, it's my chance to really break free. Maybe the sight of the house may remind him what he forgot to put first: family."

Thomas and Matthew nod gravely before they lead me to the open back doors of the hovervan.

My eyes take in all the police equipment around the back; laser guns, tasers, flash grenades and boxes of bottles labelled 'truth serum,' to name a few.

There's also a sole prisoner on board.

I recognise that look he has all too well.

I've seen it on my own face one too many times.

I'm suddenly hit with a wave of déjà vu as I stare at the man with the tattered black coat, hands behind him in handcuffs and dishevelled chocolate brown hair. A striking difference however is the one-way mirror blindfold that's over his wild dark brown eyes, looking blindly to try and find out what's going on.

"Should we take him inside?"

I nod.

As my uncles drag dad out and into the house, I notice that the pounding in my chest is…different. It's mixing in with that strange feeling inside me too.

It's burning.

It's blazing through my entire body.

The flame on the fuse is bright and brilliant.

Then, it hits me.

 _Dad has my fear._

 _I have his anger._

 _Oh, how the tables have turned._

* * *

Dad's jaw drops when the blindfold is pulled off and his eyes hit mine. I cross my arms as casually as possible before keeping my unblinking gaze right into his pupils.

 _2% fear, 2% unbridled fury and 96% ready to kill a man with bare hands and not breaking into a sweat._

"Your…your streak," he finally manages out, "Th-this was on purpose, right?"

He's trying to take control, assert dominance. If we weren't in this situation, he would've been able take it, charges and all.

Not this time.

I force my slowly rising fear down and hold my stance.

"Yes. It was on purpose. And I'm not dying it back in."

"What?"

"I'm not redoing it. I'm not gonna have that streak in my hair."

"Coraline Gould, you better dye that streak back in right now or-"

"I'm sorry, are you deaf? I said I'm not doing it. No means no. I'm quitting. For good."

The shock on his face slowly turns to deadly seriousness.

"Cora," His voice is soft, eyes are dark, "Is this some sort of joke? Do you think this is a joke?"

"No to both. I quit."

 _4% Fear, 4% unbridled fury and 92% ready to kill a man with bare hands and not breaking into a sweat._

"Coraline, I'm giving you one last chance to take back what you said-"

"I. Said. No. No. Means. No." My words are firm, my temper rising. "I'm never going back into the business. I'm taking my own chances now and actually growing up into the adult world, not staying in this hellhole like some recluse hermit that I was forced to be!" My voice suddenly rises in tone and audacity at the end and all three men stare at me, gobsmacked.

"I know what you're going to say next: 'oh, but you've been such a huge help!' If you think sitting in your bedroom all day sorting code, staying up past 3 AM in the morning to finish school assignments and barely managing to escape with your life while actually delivering is a huge help to this business, you're wrong!"

"It was a-"

"It was no sacrifice whatsoever! It was emotional and mental abuse from the damn start! Not only to me, but this entire family!

"When was the last time you told your wife you loved her and held her close? Or told your eldest son that you were proud of what he's doing in school or uni?!"

He stands up and tries to lunge at me, but my uncles are faster and pull him back onto the couch and hold him there before I'm knocked down.

"That's enough, Coraline-"

"No! Do you even remember telling your eldest daughter on how she could make a great mum? Give any advice on guys and girls?!

"How about the son who has the grand namesake? The fifth generation of Edwards that was nearly forced into this hell if it hadn't been for that scholarship that he had to beg for to escape from you?!"

My eyesight grows blurry with tears as the ugly pain I've been trying to hide for so long is pouring out to everyone in the house, seen and unseen.

 _0% fear, 8% unbridled fury and 92% ready to kill a man with bare hands and not breaking into a sweat._

"What about your youngest daughter, huh?! The one who was _so close_ to breaking free through her own will? She had all the right connections to get me and herself out, but you came in like a madman on wrecking ball and ruined her chance of flying out the cage!

"And what about me?! The one who had her wings clipped and forced to be socially and mentally starved in that cage for seven years?! Seven years I suffered under you and your threats, from the very second I was forced to join!

"Seven years of damaging the chance to have friends. Seven years of damaging the chance to have support. Seven years of damaging my mental health for your stupid business! You never were a father Edward, you are nothing but a monster of a man that only lives off the promise of money and soft drink with no care for the family that you worked so hard to make in the first place!"

The fire is ablaze with blue flames. The empty tears stream down my face before I wipe them off.

All three of the men in front of me have jaws dropped. Edward's head is down in shame, guilt, fear and many more emotions that he had made me feel. But I don't know what to feel though.

Proud that I've finally stood up to him?

Scared that I've shattered whatever relationship we had?

Shocked at what I've done to him?

I turn to anger once more when I see the faint relief in Thomas and Matthew's eyes.

"As for you two," My voice is low and cold, "Don't you _dare_ start to think that I have nothing against you. Your looming presence over that business is a major reason why I've had panic and anxiety attacks for the past seven years, adding on to what Edward has done."

Their relief fades into jittering panic as I glare burning daggers of fury at them.

"Every time at family meetings, I thought that you'd arrest the lot of us on the spot," my voice is loud, clear and ice-bitingly cold, "Every time we'd have to hide on deliveries, I heard the insults about me being the slick sneaker from behind those fake walls. Every time, I saw you in my nightmares, shooting us all to dust. If you think you had no impact on my personal, anxiety-ridden, mentally-and-emotionally-abused life, I'm giving it to you loud and clear: you are wrong!

"I heard the stories on how the Ridgewells and Hargraves were great friends to the Goulds, but how are these stories true to this day if you two have been hunting us time after time?! The original Edward, Thomas, Matthew and Thorfrid went through hell and back, legitimately and figuratively, and yet they had the strongest bond there was through their friendship! WHEREAS YOU THREE HAVE NO BONDS WHATSOEVER EXCEPT THROUGH BLOOD!"

All three men in front of me are absolutely frozen in fear as they try to avoid eye contact with me, their minds probably rushing through a million things, maybe even putting themselves in my shoes.

I let the silence sit a little more, standing up straight and tall as I possibly can in front of them. My hoodie pocket suddenly feels heavier than it was earlier when I first hid my ultimate confession this morning.

"Do you wanna know," My voice turns as quiet and deadly as Edward's, "Why I know all those stories? All down to the most accurate detail?"

I pull out an old A5-sized diary from my pocket and raise it high for the three of them to see. The diary is older than it should be, the leather flaking off in some places, an entire section of torn-out pages that were hidden in photo frames, now freshly restored in the proper place just two hours ago. The title of the diary is embossed in a flaking faux-gold print:

 **EG IV**

 **DIARY**

 **20 OCTOBER 2088**

 **—**

Edward's pupils are pinpricks. An exclamation mark is in place of Thomas' eyes. Matthew drops his taser and his jaw.

"Isn't this what you were looking for?"

"Where did you get that?!"

"From someone you'd least expect, Edward."

My eyes catch onto the four figures standing far enough from the couch, armed and ready to strike.

Slowly repositioning my feet, I take aim.

"You really shouldn't have left this AND the folder back in 2030 so that Paul ter Voorde could take them!"

I lunge the diary through the air and see Edd catch it just before Edward leaps from the couch and knocks me to the ground, blocking my line of vision from anywhere else.

It hurts.

 _100% fear._

But I'm smiling defiantly.

 _Whack!_

 _Whack!_

"Coraline, you're a disgrace to the Goulds, you worthless little-"

"Nei she isn't! YOU ARE!"

Edward's weight is suddenly lifted off me as a blur of red knocks him down.

 _Whack!_

Edward falls next to me, fresh black eye swelling fast, a look of defeat on his unconscious face.

"Cora, are you okay?"

I grab the green sleeve that's being held out to me before I'm pulled into a tight hug.

"I-It felt so good to let it out…" I puff, "But I…"

"What? What is it? Please don't tell me you believe him-"

"No, no, I don't. I just…feel kinda…out of place in some weird way…"

"Like?"

"I…I don't know yet…"

 _Rap-tap-tap._

"Can I come in?"

"Is there anyone else, Em?"

"No, nobody else."

She's puffing a little as she strides through, trying to look completely uninterested at the three unconscious bodies on the floor. "I saw everything through that hidden cam," she holds up her phone, open on the custom map Tom, the twins and I have managed to create, "I'll be honest with you. I feel kinda out of place too."

"We can talk about that later," Tom suggests, dusting himself off, "But what now?"

My mind flashes back to inside the hovervan and I smirk.

"There's a hovervan outside. Help yourself to looting everything inside it and disable any listening or recording devices in there. But what we're really gonna need from there is some rope and those boxes that hold bottles of liquid that's gonna be useful."

"Uh, is there a point to that?" Tom raises an eyebrow.

"There's some things that our research, the diary and the folder can't give us for Eagle's Cross."

I notice that I'm standing straight, giving orders and all eyes are on me.

Past Cora would've hated the role of the leader, taking the baton.

I'm loving it, no baton needed.

"If interrogation is our only alternative now, then let's get to it."

* * *

 **Why a reprise of 'Fight Song' of Rachel Platten?**

 **Remember how I said it's a song of Cora's rising anger against her father, uncles and** **the cola-smuggling business and the effects it had on her family? Yeah, that again. But the booming and thundering drumbeats following the first notes of the final chorus are Cora finally exploding out to the world, it's her way of saying that she's had enough, and that it's time to take her life in her own hands and finally be free. There's still issues that need to be solved though, and next chapter will definitely deal with that.**

 **Why 'TDCAU' by Michael Jackson, Covered by 2Cellos?**

 **Apart from me being Michael Jackson trash, this also represents Cora's anger, but I just couldn't see fit to throw in the original into the playlist. But if you understand the lyrics of the original, it's about a discrimination on human rights being finally stood up to, a form of oppression being fought back. Cora's not taking the safety bait of staying in the shadows of emotional and mental abuse any longer. She's proven that her father and uncles really did not care about her or her family in the past, and she's making them regret that decision heavily.**

 **Why 'Awake and Alive' by Skillet?**

 **Need I even say why? Have a listen to it yourself and find Cora's words and voice in the lyrics. Also, THAT INSTRUMENTAL IS PERFECT FOR A FIGHT SONG. OH MY GOD.**

 **Why a reprise of 'The Kids Aren't Alright' by Fall Out Boy?**

 **Have you heard the final chorus in that song? It's like Cora's anger - soft at first, but when provoked, she'll blow and absolutely wreck everything in the way. Also, last chapter she was finally accepting who her uncles and father really were in the true light, now she's finally letting them know how they're really like in her eyes - nothing but fakers who were in for business and only a ploy to win money.** ** _'And with the black banners raised/and the crooked smiles fade/former heroes who quit too late/who just want to fill up the trophy case again._ '**


	18. Chapter 16

**wE'RE BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK**

 **Of all things, why did my schedule have to get the chapters posted on the days after The End Part one and two, and Edd Day itself (my time)?**

 **Oh dear.**

 **No song for this chapter this time. But I'm willing for suggestions - tell me in a review on what song it should have!**

 **I only own Cora, Emily, Edward, Laurie, Lauren (the latter two are mentioned) and the story. Everything else belongs to the respective owners.**

* * *

 ** _RECORDING STARTED._**

 ** _Date: CLASSIFIED, Month: CLASSIFIED, 2104._**

 ** _27, Durdum Lane's basement, London, UK._**

 **Voice1:** Hello? Is this thing working? Testing, one two three…

 ** _RECORDING STOPPED._**

 ** _RECORDING STARTED._**

 **Voice1:** Perfect. It's working. Okay, _(deep breath)_ I got this. My name is Coraline Gould. I'm 19 years old, and I'm talking to myself on an old tape recorder that I found in Matt's junk. _(she laughs a little)_ Okay, that was lame. How do I…

 ** _RECORDING STOPPED._**

 ** _RECORDING DELETED._**

 ** _RECORDING STARTED._**

 **Cora:** Okay, last time failed miserably, _(deep breath)_ but I can do this. My name is Coraline Gould, but I'm called Cora by my peers and family and I'm 19 years old. Ever since the year 2030, my family line has been one of the main suppliers of cola-smuggling to the world. I would go on, but this isn't what the case of this recording is about. It's about the secrets that my father, Edward Gould IV, has kept from us for about…one and a half decades, approximately.

 _(Silence except for_ **Cora's** _breathing is heard. There are shuffling sounds for five seconds before she speaks again)_

 **Cora:** What Edward has hidden from all of us is that he, and my Uncles Thomas Ridgwell IV, Matthew Hargraves IV, Thorfrid Larsson IV and my good friend's Emily's dad Johannes Brock had once banded together to change the timeline so that Cola wouldn't be banned. The plan involved faking my ancestors' and Emily's ancestors' deaths and hiding them away in a cryogenic-virtual-reality hybrid machines that are called-I mean were called Cryo-Virts. Now, just about ten minutes ago or something, I confronted two of my uncles and my dad over Eagle's Cross, but they wouldn't, ah…co-operate peacefully. So Em and I have tied up my dad and uncles and we're going to inject them with truth serum so that when they wake up, they'll have to confess why and how Eagle's Cross came to be.

 _(More shuffling noises)_

 **Cora:** Em, you ready?

 **Emily:** Syringe loaded and ready to go. Who's first?

 **Cora:** Edward. He's probably got the most information.

 **Emily:** Okay, his sleeves are up and I'm jabbing it in in three, two, one...there! It's all in, now to see if I can pull-

 _(There is a loud masculine yell that fritzes up the recording a bit, echoing through the room that they are in)_

 **Emily:** …oops. That was horribly done. At least he's awake and the whole thing got in though.

 **Edward:** _(Woozily, as if about to throw up)_ No…ugh…kidding. Where are we?

 **Cora:** _(Sternly)_ Basement, Edward.

 **Edward:** Cora? Don't talk to me like that, I'm your father.

 **Cora:** A father who didn't give a single shi-

 **Edward:** _(Guiltily)_ I know. I know. _(Suddenly suspicious)_ Wait, why did I say it like that? What did you two do to me?!

 **Emily:** Mr G, I don't like saying or doing any of this and I'm pretty sure Cora doesn't either, but you have to give us answers on Eagle's Cross. Our research has gone so far, but you have the final pieces of the puzzle.

 **Edward:** _(tauntingly)_ Or what?

 **Cora:** Nothing. You just tell us. Tell us everything you can on Eagle's Cross. Starting with the Grandfather Paradox attempted suicide.

 **Edward:** I thought you didn't know anything about that…okay…I'll spill, even though I don't know why I'm doing it and I don't want to… Well, since you know about Eagle's Cross…

 **Cora:** Get on with it.

 **Edward:** Okay, okay! Jeez. There were two Eagles, alright? The first one was the grandfather paradox suicide.

 **Emily:** Of course the ultimate Eagle's Cross operation as a whole was split in two. We should've made that in the research, Cor.

 **Edward:** I codenamed the operation as Eagle's Cross after the Tintin comic because it was something that I wanted to hide for decades, centuries even, just like Sir Francis did. I told nobody about it. The guilt gnawed away at me till I thought I would die. I bought the laser gun that disguised itself as a regular pistol and the time watch three days before I went off.

 **Cora:** That explains the receipt… any other evidence?

 **Edward:** That and the one entry in that diary is the proof of that time! When I was captured, I had the incriminating evidence in my jacket, so I made a run for it while I could.

 **Cora:** Explain how your jacket got tattered, though. I still remember the argument you had with mum before Ell pulled me away.

 **Edward:** _(sheepishly)_ I…made a few miscalculations on the jumps, I think. Or it was the changing of the timeline with the original Matt messing around with it. There were deserts, jungles, arctic tundra, accidental meetups with more ancestors in the Wild West…dystopian cities millennia after our time… Matthew and Thomas were right on my trail till the last jump, where I landed 9 days after I left for the failed mission. They came back in three days after.

 **Cora:** You mentioned a second Eagle, did you?

 **Edward:** Yes.

 **Cora:** Where did that one all start?

 **Edward:** 23rd October 2094. It was at an after-party for Emily's tenth and Laurie's seventh birthdays, and you kids were already in bed. Thomas offered me some of his aged family Smirnoff. Lauren had a few sips but quickly left as we started to get rowdy. _(chuckles softly)_ Really rowdy. So much so that we just couldn't help it but drink and drink and drink…cola, Smirnoff and the diet stuff of both everywhere on the carpet…

 **Cora:** _(at the same time as Emily)_ Ew.

 **Emily:** _(at the same time as Cora)_ Ew.

 **Edward:** Then Johannes, I think, made a bet that it was possible to go back in time and stop cola from being banned as a drug…

 **Emily:** _(Disbelief)_ My dad, of all people?

 **Edward:** Trust me, I was stunned too. But we all agreed on it. Thomas, Matthew, Thorfrid, Johannes and I. We worked out a few rough details on napkins and paper while we were all still drunk, who'd take the time machines, what we could do… They were so detailed, that when we were sober again, we decided to go with it.

 **Cora:** What did the plan involve?

 **Edward:** The way we went with involved finishing what I tried to start.

 **Cora:** _(slightly shaky, as if she's starting to become angry)_ Go on…

 **Edward:** I still wanted to kill him to spare us all…then I wanted to kill all four of them to spare every family line...But Matthew and Thomas made me compromise: no deaths, but they let me off with getting them out the way in a semi-permanent form.

 **Cora:** Yikes, your selfishness really did get in the way.

 **Edward:** _(guiltily)_ I know, I know… _(he takes in a breath before speaking again with a grudging tone)_ We were all stuck on what to do with that last part. During that time, I found my diary that I started on the first Eagle with the intent of finishing it again, but I was assigned to recording everything we did and I mean everything, leaving me no time to do any new entries. Even the times when we were stuck on what to do. Which was most of the time apart from a few suggestions that didn't work in theory until the Cryo-Virt was released from McCoy Industries.

 **Cora:** You know, I haven't been thinking about it with all that's happened, but...just to double-check. Is the leader of McCoy Industries the same Judge McCoy who led the Dr. Pepper case to dooming the company?

 **Edward:** _(midly surprised)_ I thought you knew that by now.

 **Cora:** We had to be sure. Why did he come up with those in the first place?

 **Edward:** I knew the bastard since he was a young lad, 20 or something. He wanted to be an inventor, real genius, that kid. He had a couple good runs in his inventing company before he followed his old man's advice and took up politics. He'd always wanted to do the cryogenic freezing-virtual reality hybrid. A lot of the sales from the fellows in the Dr. Pepper area were mainly from the workers from that place who were just looking for a way to blow their salaries and the company money. When the lad found out that this underground ring of fizzed drink sales were draining his dosh…He took what he had left, wormed his way into politics and ended up tossing the poor souls into prison.

 **Cora:** Yikes.

 **Edward:** But he's been after us too, Cor. When he went into politics and succeeded with the Dr. Pepper case, he swore a family oath to gain revenge and wipe out not only the Goulds, but the Ridgewells, Hargraves and Larssons. Thorfrid was witness to it and told nobody else but me, Thomas and Matthew. Anyway, one of Thorfrid's brothers was working in McCoy industries at the time, which gave us the chance to REALLY make a start on the timeline change. That damned family line is the one who's started all this...

 **Cora:** Started what?

 _(There is a series of inaudible cursing from_ **Edward.** _The words and phrases 'banning', '70 years' and 'filthy war machine of a man' are heard through his language.)_

 **Emily:** When did you install the Cryo-Virts?

 **Edward:** We went back in time to around 2014 and installed them there. We would've done a little more work on the details, but we had to dash off when we first heard footsteps coming our way. I realised later that I had left my diary back there, I came back to the exact time, except a few minutes later so I could pick it up. Good news, nobody was there. Bad news, someone had taken the diary.

 **Cora:** Was it a day when the original Tord was visiting the place?

 **Edward:** I think so…

 **Cora:** Well, that makes sense then…

 **Edward:** But we spent weeks creating the code, testing and retesting it on our laptops, desktops and simulators to see if there were any kinks to fix, anything to add, anything that we had to delete, going back and forth through time to keep a balance between that and our regular lives. Can't believe we actually got away with that. Nobody suspected anything. When we finished up the details and went back to install it, the time machine malfunctioned and had us stuck in 2030 for two weeks. I had also been the one managing them since I still had my watch.

 **Emily:** A full 26 years too late.

 **Edward:** I still hoped that there was a chance. I didn't tell the others that we landed in that year. But as we worked hard in that basement, I found out that the original Edd, Tom, Matt, and Tord as well Eduardo and his friends already had kids and spouses of their own. But we managed to load in every single piece of code, steal the boys and seal them away. Tord was the last one thrown in. It looked like he had dropped something in a cranny or whatnot and he wouldn't tell me what it was when we tried to bribe him with not being thrown in there. Should've known that it was my diary.

 **Cora:** He was smart enough to resist you. But the info we have tells us that Paul ter Voorde found the diary soon after you vanished. Why didn't you think of going back for it?

 **Edward:** I did, but my reaction was, ah…delayed. Once the seven were sealed away and we headed back home…everyone figured that we had landed in the wrong year and it was too late to change anything for a second time. Johannes forgave me, but the others…I don't think they ever did. My time watch, the calculator and the vortex-creator time machines were confiscated to the police base-

 **Cora:** Hold on. Vortex-creator time machine?

 **Edward:** You never knew about the third time machine in the police base?

 **Cora:** I have to genuinely thank Laurie for that one. But how does that one work?

 **Edward:** That one does a one-way trip to any point in time you choose. The month and date can't change, only the year can. But I remember we all had to jump in at once when we used it, otherwise it would close up before the rest of us could head in…Can I stop answering now?

 **Cora:** There's still a few more questions, Edward.

 **Edward:** _(sternly)_ Well, I'm not answering them. I've already spilled out more than I wanted to, that's enough.

 _(Silence falls. 3 minutes pass until_ **Cora** _speaks again)_

 **Cora:** One last question, then. Throughout your life, what did you believe was worth your while the most? Your family, or your business? One or the other, you must choose.

 **Emily:** Ten seconds to respond. We're counting.

 _(Heavy, panicked breathing is heard from_ **Edward** _as_ **Emily** _counts from 10 down to 1. A loud thunk is heard before silence falls again.)_

 **Cora:** Emily? I think I know what this feeling of…oh what is it? Displacement, that's it. I know what this feeling of displacement is now. Edward, I can't thank you enough for your info.

 **Emily:** I think I know what you mean by that…but what should we do now?

 **Cora:** Emergency meeting with the family and crew on what's gonna be next? You might also have to start getting back into gymnastics.

 **Emily:** Sounds good to me, just as soon as we get your Uncl-

 ** _BATTERY LOW_**

 ** _END TAPE_**


	19. Chapter 17

**As I've said before, my posting schedule for this time around is** ** _terrible._**

 **The End Part 2 was a real wild one, huh?**

 **(Poor Jon...at least The End isn't canon with Eagle's Cross!)**

 **Anyway, the song for this chapter is Locked Away by R. City and featuring Adam Levine. Explanation will be at the bottom of the chapter!**

 **I only own Emily, Cora, Laurie, Lauren, Ed, Ell, Jaxx, the story and a couple other characters mentioned here. Edd, Tom, Matt, Tord and the Eduardo gang belong to Eddsworld and everything else to the respective owners.**

* * *

 _Three weeks later…_

* * *

My heart's pounding as I rise out of bed again.

But this time…

It's not plain, fear-inducing panic.

It's a sort of panic that has me excited, ready to take on the day without knowing what's coming up next, as if you're playing a video game and have just started the final stage of the game after _finally_ beating that ridiculously hard boss level before.

Taking a few deep breaths as I throw off my PJs and slip on my clothes in the closet, I mentally go over what's left of what Em and I call _'The Plan'._

· - _Finish packing and send the luggage to the twins to shrink. Also, see if the cam-glasses work on stream mode._

· - _Double-check if mum and Jaxx's experimental theories have gotten down to a final prototype. It needs to be done by today. And if so, we need to have them set up._

· - _Laurie needs to have finished that full detailed map of the base by dinner. Otherwise, Em and I won't be able to get anywhere tonight._

"Today's the day, huh?" Edd asks sleepily as I shove the closet door open while he rubs his eyes.

"Eeyup!"

"Hey, the hoodie isn't 'round your waist either."

"I thought that I could go without it today."

"Fair enough. But breakfast first, kiddo. Play it normal alright? Laurie's gonna notice something's REALLY up if you're like that the entire day."

"Hey, I can't help it if I'm hyped!" I grin as I shut the door behind me and stride to the kitchen to make the big-time-breakfast for today. I've got 12 mouths to feed in this house, 13 if I count myself, so I waste no time quickly frying eggs, bacon and serving up pitchers of orange juice and cola.

13 chairs around the table? Check.

Smells of breakfast wafting around the house? Check.

Activate the second layer of the house arrest square for the three in the basement?

Oh.

Wait.

Whoops.

* * *

"Come on you three, up and at 'em. I've activated the second layer and you're free to head upstairs for breakfast. Everyone's waiting for you. Also, I've talked to the crew and they'll let you take some spare clothes they're not using while the ones you've been in are in the laundry. You'll get the chance to have a shower and shave too."

Edward stares at me with the same look of sombre guilt he's had for the past three weeks, but this time there's a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"Will there be fresh blankets and pillows too?"

"…Yeah. Also, Thomas?"

"Mm?"

"Do you need to recharge your eyes or anything or…?"

"I…I-I-I'm fine Cora, thank you for asking though."

"Look, I know I've kept you guys prisoner for three weeks here, with those converted Cryo-Virt beds and all, but are you sure you're okay?"

The three of them glance at each other before nodding.

"Alright then. Everybody's expecting an apology from you three though, including myself. You better be exact about it too. I'll see you at the table."

I can hear the three of them talking to each other as I make my way up the stairs.

"What's gotten into her, Edward? Why is she suddenly nice to us all of a sudden?"

"I think she's ready to let go, Matthew. It's a lame guess but…it's a good change."

"I hope."

"You're doubting, Thomas?"

"How dare you biblically pun us in such a time."

"I'm not too sure Edward, it sounded like she's trying to enjoy her last day here. Well, it was to me…" Matthew muses.

"I'm not leaving that second layer activated for long if you keep on chit-chatting down there!"

* * *

My siblings look very nervous as they try to avoid eye contact with Edward, Thomas and Matthew and my crew does the best to ignore the three as we're all sitting around the table. Only mum is the one showing sympathy as she sits next to Edward and places her hand in his, her wedding ring sparkling brilliantly.

Breakfast is served, but nobody's eating until we say grace.

But that's gonna have to wait.

There's a large elephant in the room we have to talk about.

"Ahem!"

All eyes are on me.

I swallow down my anxiety.

The words I've rehearsed start to flow.

* * *

"Look, I know you're all probably wondering a few things right now, such as the state of my sanity and asking yourselves why the men we've called our prisoners for three weeks, are here at this table, about to eat with us when it should be Emily and her crew.

"For the record, my sanity has been battered and bruised away by these three men thanks to the anxiety and depression they helped cause in my life, but guess what? It's still standing and I'm still standing. The reason why they're here is because despite all this, they're still our family and I'm choosing to forgive them. And I'm asking you to join me."

Laurie opens her mouth to object, but Jaxx elbows her before anything can come out.

"Thanks Jaxx. I know it's hard to believe for all of you, but I've found that it's possible to forgive those who you thought were your enemies, whether you've loathed them for a few weeks into high school, or feared them for seven years straight. It means that you're letting go, from every heartache to every tear, from every bruise to every drop of blood, from every insult to every threat. You're letting go of all the pain they've caused, no matter where it came from.

"We've soldiered away in our lives for so long. We lost so many years and chances to have experiences that we only dreamed of being done. We didn't lose our childhood, no, but on behalf of Jaxx, the twins and myself, we've lost our teenage years. Does that mean we've lost the ability to forgive? No! Of course not! If we think we have, we're believing a lie! We've been believing a lie fed to us by society ever since the beginning!"

I take a deep breath and wipe the tears that threaten to spill from my eyes.

"Of course, it hurts. It hurts so much to forgive those who've betrayed you, especially when you're feeling like you're betraying yourself if you let go of all the pain that was caused by them. But if we don't forgive, the pain will just get worse and worse every day, no matter how much we try to deny it. Y'know that old saying, 'time heals all wounds?' That is total balderdash and we need to get that lie out of our lives. If time can't heal us, forgiveness can.

"So. Edward, Thomas, Matthew, you have a lot of trust to rebuild between me, my siblings and our ancestors. But I want to say that I forgive you for all the pain you've caused me for the past seven years. Because someone," I glance Edd, whose face is beaming, "forgave me and our family first."

Matthew and Edward are trying to keep a straight face, but that's pretty much impossible when tears are evidently streaming down their faces and making stains on their borrowed shirts from Matt and Edd respectively. Thomas has a crying emoji on his eyegoggles and he's actually having to lift them up a bit to wipe the tears that are coming down.

Then, Edward stands.

"I…I should've done this from the beginning."

Tension in the air rises to a maximum.

"I'm sorry."

It drops within a millisecond.

"I'm sorry for everything I've done to this family. What idiocies I've done to my own kids, how much I've neglected you five and my wife for the sake of the business because…" His voice starts to break, "I thought that I was being haunted by you four…" He nods to the crew, "And that you'd be so disappointed if I didn't uphold the smuggling rings. I went too far…I thought I had this burden of what I thought was a family business on my shoulders…everything turned into a matter of bloodlines and stuff that doesn't make any sense now that I try to think of it…I was so stupid…"

"Well, why didn't you tell us in the first place?" Edd asks, a warm smile creeping up on his face.

"You'd run from me, for a start."

"That's enough banter between you two before it goes any further." Mum butts in, squeezing Edward's hand, "Matthew, Thomas? Anything you'd like to say?"

"We're…we're sorry too. About the insults we threw at you without knowing you were there, indirectly causing you unnecessary stress when you were just trying to survive, even by illegal means." Thomas shrugs.

"We really do love you kids, but I guess…work got in the way like it did with Edward…" Matthew sighs.

I let go of a sigh that I don't realise I've been holding for a while.

Letting go just feels so good.

Staring at Edward, Thomas and Matthew for a few seconds, I wonder—am I already at the point where I can accept these men as family again?

My heart says yes.

My head says to wait.

I'll probably find out soon.

But for now, I'm starving. I'm probably going to wolf down everyone's breakfasts, plates and all…after grace, of course.

* * *

 _Mental Checklist (not entirely in order):_

· - _Finish packing and send the luggage to the twins to shrink. Also, see if the cam-glasses work on stream mode. Check! Everything's fine._

· - _Laurie needs to have finished that full detailed map of the base by now. Otherwise, Em and I won't be able to get anywhere tonight. Check, and the digital version is downloaded into the cam-glasses._

· - _Double-check if mum and Jaxx's experimental theories have gotten down to a final prototype. It needs to be done by today. And if so, we need to load them up. Doing that right now!_

"Oh hey Cora, Emily. How are you two doing?" Mum pipes up cheerfully.

"All good, Mrs G. Sliiightly nervous but we're fine. How's our assignment treating ya?" Em piques.

"Good thing you two came in, mum and I have just finished the final prototype!" Jaxx exclaims.

"Excellent!" I grin, "What's the scoop?"

"For the record, both of us were the test subjects for this as well as chief scientists, but don't worry, we're fine. We're not gonna mutate into giant chimps or turn into zombies."

Em and I share a somewhat uneasy glance, but we nod for Jaxx to go on.

"Okay, so it took us a couple trials, but we've finally managed to get the serum to replicate an entire century's worth of memories when a sample of blood is inserted, even the ones that were passed on from our grandparents!"

"The memories-shared-through-genes scenario finally managed to work for us in the way you wanted it," Mum grins triumphantly, "Looks like my major in chemistry and that cola recipe payed off in the end, huh kids? All you gotta do is inject the serum into your target person and you'll be done!"

"Mum, since you didn't mention the side effects-"

"Of course there had to be those," I groan.

"-I'm gonna take the pleasure-slash-burden of sharing them with you two. Just…don't tell the crews once they come in to give their blood samples for this thing, okay?"

Em and I zip our mouths, lock them and throw away the key.

"Thanks guys. Anyway, mum and I found out that you have to hold the syringe in for about 5 seconds after thrusting in the entire shot of serum in, so that you don't have any memories left behind. Also, it takes a while for the memories to set in…"

"How long?" Em asks.

"About three to five hours. And the injectee is gonna be knocked out the entire time."

"…Wow." I manage out.

"Also, I hope the crews don't mind that our blood samples have to come from the chest and head in order to have as many memories as possible in the serum-"

"Hey chums! The twins told us to meet up with you two so we could help with finishing off those memory serums, so here we are, all seven of us!"

"Oh my god, Matt." I facepalm.

"No, no, it's fine." Jaxx shrugs, "We were expecting you, so yeah, step right up! Who's first?"

* * *

"Alrighty then, that's the last one! Mum and I have been labelling which syringes have your memories, so don't worry about them getting mixed up when Cor and Em head back and find you."

"I can't believe you took blood from near my face…"

"Matt, shut up. Look on the bright side: there's no evident scars on your face, you never felt the needle going in and your formidable chin still stands." Edd nudges him.

"Formida-what?"

"Never mind."

"Well, this just gets better and better!"

"What's new, Jaxx?" I ask.

"We can add food colouring to the serums and colour-code them! It'll make life easier for you three."

"Sweet!" Em grins.

Mum then pulls out the two medical suitcases and carefully stows away the seven serums – three in one case for Em, four in the other for me.

"You might wanna meet up with the twins and shrink your bags down now, these two included. Have you two finished packing?"

"Yep."

"Have you thought of a way of keeping them close?"

We hold up the rubber loom bands that have our miniature luggage on them, said luggage having been shrunken down earlier.

"Good going! But you're gonna need to shrink these down as well." She hands us our respective medical cases, "Do you know how to attach them on?"

"Eeyup."

Looks like it's back to the twins, then.

"Um, Lauren?"

"Yes, Edd?"

"Can I learn the cola recipe from you?"

I roll my eyes as me and Em make a move, but we bump into some red on the way.

"Cora?"

"Tord, why where you in Edd's bedroom?

"Since Edd's kinda busy, he asked if I could give this to you from him."

My eyes widen.

He's holding a cola can with a chain on it…

…but it's not any old can.

It has the original brand and design of the Coca-Cola Company, before it was banned.

Which could only mean…

"Tord, that's-"

"I know. Edd wants you to have it."

"I can't take that! It belongs to him and—"

"He wants you to have it Cor," He places the chain over my head and lets it rest on my neck, "End of story. You'll need it more than he does. If you're not okay with wearing it right now, you can put it in those bags of yours. Besides, he tells me that everyone needs a little something."

"Charming, I know."

He smiles and ruffles my hair a bit before heading somewhere else, but I'm still in a moment of disbelief until Em starts dragging me up the attic stairs.

Well, I guess I'll need that luck when Em and I head off.

Thanks Edd.

* * *

- _Laurie's Police base/police sets-of-warehouses Map, paper and digital? Check._

· - _Serums grabbed? Check._

· - _Bags shrunken down and on close hand including serums? Check, pun intended._

So what now?

"D'you have the time, Em?"

"Way past lunchtime, I'm guessing. Everyone's either been working hard or really enjoying themselves today."

"Hmm…how about a mass dinner outside with the barbecue, like on the anniversary?"

"Are you implying a farewell feast?"

"Basically, except with more food, I guess."

"We can't tell certain people though," Em nods her head to Laurie nearby, "That there's an emphasis on _farewell._ " Her voice is a low whisper, as if we're back in the days where our secrets are held within the four walls of that old pod place.

"I know, Em. I've kept my trap shut about it for this entire time, to her and the prisoners-"

"But a lot of the time, we've been lucky. They're starting to suspect stuff already; I've almost had my guard down when I was packing and nearly got caught by Laur when she was over at my place those nights. She nearly found the blueprints, but I claimed they were old bills I was planning to clear out."

"Yikes…" I mutter before taking in a breath and raising my voice so everyone can hear. "Okay everybody, listen up! You've all done pretty well today, but you've worked yourselves past lunchtime. In fact, who's up for a mega barbecue dinner tonight?"

Whoops from around the house. Excellent.

"Alright, but if you think Em and I are gonna be the only ones taking the chairs, tables and the barbie down from the attic, you're wrong."

* * *

"Babe?"

"Yeah hon?"

"How's Cor and Em doing with the sausages?"

"They're fine babe, doing good! D'you need help with anything?"

"Can you help me load out the packs of aged letters-I mean cola? Thomas and Matt are helping out, but the others are kinda busy already, so…"

"On my way, hon!"

"By the way Lauren, d'you know how all this cola managed to age like fine wine and not go stale and out of date like it would've back then? I'm not expecting an answer, but still…"

"I think it's all the preservatives, Eddie. I'm not sure myself either, but I'll have a look!"

"Man, your mum's really pulling a Rick Astley on Edward, isn't she Cor?"

"You mean she's never gonna give him up?" I laugh, "Yep! I think she forgave him a long time before I did. I wonder what the wedding vows were for her to stay by his side like that…"

"Nah, I'm pretty sure it's not just the vows. As it says in scripture, _perfect love casts out all fear._ "

"Really?"

"Come on, it's true!"

"Well, I suppose…I'm just kinda unsure if I'm ready to love Edward as 'dad' again and Thomas and Matthew as 'uncles.' My heart says yes, but my head's telling me to wait. I think Laur has that feeling too."

"Laur has all the time in the world to come to terms with it all, probably even into the next century if she lives long enough. But you-"

"I know that I don't. I probably have less than 12 hours to love them all again and say it in this here and now of 2104 before we're-"

"Okay! Is it alright to throw some onion in the barbecue too?"

"Gah! Tord! Don't freak us out like that, we were in the middle of-"

"I know, sorry 'bout that, but ah," He leans in close and whispers, "You were kinda loud in front of unwanted company."

I suddenly spot Laurie over his shoulder, sitting patiently at the table, midway from where we're standing, but close enough to hear us.

Dammit.

What and how much did she hear?

"Act like I've told you a bad pun, okay? Play along and I think she'll stop listening."

Em, being dramatic as ever, starts us off.

"Oh my god, Tord! Now I see why you're Mr G's ancestor, but next time, spare us!"

"Tord," I facepalm, "That was horrible. Why did you have to _whisper_ that in our ears?"

Tord guffaws, obviously faking it, but stealing a glance at Laurie tells me she's taken the bait.

Just in time, too.

The Cola's here and so is everyone else.

Aaaaand we might burn the sausages if we don't serve up.

* * *

"Does anyone mind if I say grace?"

We find ourselves staring at Em, since it's the first time she's asking to say grace after denying to do so multiple times after the tradition started…about two months ago now, I think.

The realisation isn't given enough time to slap me in the face as we take hands and Em starts to pray.

"Lord, many things come to an end, good and bad. And they can end mostly unexpected, as well as happening in the way we don't want it to happen.

"But the thing is, I'm grateful for the new family and friends Cora and I have made during this time and I want to thank You for being with the Goulds, Ridgewells, Hargraves and Larssons during that hard period. Even though we all thought at some point that there was nobody to lift us up and stick by our side, You did Lord, and you always carried us in Your arms."

Peeking one eye open, I notice that Tom and Laur are sitting next to each other like brother and sister, and I smile. And are those…tears on their faces?

"Lord, You've corrected us when we were wrong and supported us when we were right. You've always done it with a loving heart and I thank You that You sent Your son Jesus to die on that cross so that our families will never have to suffer from the oppression of earthly laws and the orders of cola smuggling."

For some reason, I feel like my heart's melting and collapsing inside, hot liquid dripping down my cheeks as I try to hold myself together. Dammit Em, why am I crying?

"As we all end this chapter of our lives tonight and begin writing the new, I want to thank You that You've brought us to this here and now, eating the food that You've blessed and made whole to our bodies to get us through the next stage of our lives."

I shoot her a glance.

 _That was a little bit too on the nose for a few you-know-whos, Em._

"Bless the cooks!" Tom yells out, everyone snickers as we blush.

"That too. Amen!"

"Amen."

Taking a proper surveillance at the table, Edward, Thomas and Matthew start practically wolfing their sausages and chugging their serves of aged cola, slowed down only by the manners they've somehow managed to retain during their three weeks as prisoners.

Speaking of which…

"Cor, where are you heading off to?"

"Just the bathroom, mum. I'll be right back."

* * *

 ** _HELLO, CORALINE GOULD_**

 ** _YOU HAVE: THREE HOUSE-ARREST PRISONERS._**

 ** _TWO OUT OF TWO LAYERS OF BOUNDRIES ARE ACTIVATED._**

 ** _WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO?_**

"Release all prisoners and deactivate all layers."

 ** _ARE YOU SURE?_**

 _Yes._

 ** _LOADING TO ACTION CENTRE…_**

 ** _PRISONERS RELEASED._**

 ** _NOTIFY THEM?_**

 _No._

 ** _UNLOCK ANKLE CUFFS SILENTLY?_**

 _Yes._

 ** _ANKLE CUFFS UNLOCKED._**

I smile as I quickly power down the machine and throw it into the police van's trash compressor, taking in relief and satisfaction as I watch the metal be crushed to pieces in the dimmed and muffled noise.

"I'm getting closer, Edward," I whisper, "I'm almost ready."

"Ready for what?"

"Gah! Laurie! What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at the table? Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry for freaking you out, but I figured that you really weren't going to the bathroom."

 _Uh oh._

"I asked mum if I could head in after you to get away and see what you were really doing. Why are you here? Where's the house arrest-thingy?"

I glance at the trash compactor as small drops of sweat start to trickle down my neck.

"Did you just do what I think you did?"

"Fine. I, uh…let the three go. They don't know they've been released."

"You what."

"Laurel, I'm nearly there. I'm almost ready to fully let go of it all. They're not prisoners anymore."

"Cora, what's gotten into you, are you crazy?! They'll probably just go nuts all over again and take control and-"

"No they won't Laurie, Em and I made sure of that! We shoved truth serum into them so we'd understand who they really were in those interrogations and they've finally apologised to our faces today! Why can't you let go?"

Silence falls.

She looks down at the ground, head hanging in shame as the blue-streaked blonde hair falls in front of her face. I gently raise her chin to look at me and kneel to her height.

"It's not healthy to hold grudges against people, Laur. You and I know that."

"I…I don't know why, Cor. I've just been an internal mess of emotions for the past three weeks-"

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"I told Tom, but I didn't want him telling anybody else…but I didn't want to burden him with my problems any more so…"

I pull Laurie into a hug and rub her back while she grips on my body.

"Cora? Promise you won't ditch me?"

If only I could promise, Laur.

My heart starts to beat faster.

My shirt is sticking to my back.

"Promise?"

"I'm sorry. I can't."

"Why?"

"You know I can't stick by you forever. I'm 19 years old, it's time for me to make a life for myself."

"Can't I live with you? Can't I at least be a part of your life?"

 _Ow, Laurie._

 _You'd be more than just an emotional mess if you were._

 _I can't stay in 2104._

"Is it because you're still not letting go the pain Edward caused you?"

"Cora-"

"Mum and Edward are our parents and your guardians, not me. Edward's going to become a better person if you let him and that pain go. I can promise you that."

We pull out from the hug and stare at each other for what feels like forever, her bright blue eyes searching into my heterochromic brown-and-blue.

She'd always been a clever kid, having inherited mum's ability to tell when people are lying.

Will she find me out?

"Let's head back to dinner," she finally announces, "I'm gonna starve if we don't eat."

I nod and lead Laurie to back to the barbecue, but I can't stop the guilt running through me as I think about that was discussed with my mum and our siblings when her back was turned.

 _The truth._

It's my last day in Durdum Lane.

But I'm not heading back to the pod suburbs, oh no.

Em and I are leaving for somewhere else entirely different.

Actually, make that _sometime._

One century back, that's all.

* * *

 **Why 'Locked Away' by and Adam Levine?**

 **Well, haven't you listened to the lyrics? Now imagine that Cora's dad is singing those lyrics not only to his wife who has already forgiven him and sticking by his side, but to his kids who he's hurt so much. He's saying sorry and asking for forgiveness. As the lyric says, 'Would you still love me the same?' He wants to know if his family will accept him again as a dad and start to love him, even after all these years. Plus, it's a sort of song that would bring a family together, no matter how much the said family has gone through.**

 **Also, I totally call it canon that this song was played at the wedding of Edward IV and Lauren. This has to be.**


	20. Finale: Prelude

**I'm here.**

 **I can't believe I'm truly here.**

 **The final chapter before the finale.**

 **After this, it's a 7-week posting hiatus, self-interview and contest while I write out that and the epilogue.**

 **Oh boy. It's gonna be a lot of time.**

 **Songs for this chapter:**

 **Heroes (We Could Be) by Alesso and Tove Lo**

 **Wings by Delta Goodrem**

 **Skyfall by Adele**

 **I only own Cora, Emily and the plot. Everything else belongs to the respective owners.**

* * *

Everything's packed and on my wrist.

Laurie's map is complete and in Em's hands.

Jasper is due to arrive and pick us up at 12AM, 2 hours from now.

The miniature command centre is now fully set up in the attic, waiting to be activated.

I'm supposed to be getting enough rest for the mission, but why can't I sleep?

I don't want to wake Edd up with the tossing and turning I'm pretty sure I'm gonna end up doing, but I just can't seem to close my eyes either.

Rolling out from under the covers, I manage to pick out footsteps from above while I find myself pulling on my glasses and getting dressed.

'Dammit Cora,' I try to stop myself, 'What are you doing? You need sleep! Jasper's not due to arrive for another two hours!'

But still, I creep my way out from the bedroom, then the house before I find myself sprawling myself out on the grass of the front yard, then soon enough, the backyard too.

Straightening my glasses and blinking a few times to readjust to the darkness, I'm taken aback at what secrets are revealed in the night sky.

Stars, millions and millions of them, splattering all around in so many different shapes. Certain clusters of them look like glittered clouds, others just look like glistening ripples made in a puddle. Different sparkling colours splash around within the tiny, tiny dots in the navy blue sky, as if they're millions and millions of people swimming and dancing within the deepest of oceans.

The only thing that is brighter than the stars is the silver sliver of a waxing crescent moon shining from beyond the backyard, casting a faint shadow of the house onto the front yard and the landroad ahead.

 _This would totally be a better view on the roof._

I start to haul myself up, putting my feet on the faint grooves I find on the left side of the house, the same ones Edd created a hundred years ago when he scrambled up to clear out a branch from the satellite and ended up gaining superpowers.

Scrambling up and trying to make as less noise as possible, I notice in the faint moonlight that Em's usual outfit has changed again: she's not wearing the button-ups at all, instead having just her lilac t-shirt on, hair still out, completely unbothered.

"You're not cold up here?"

"As much as I'm willing to bet that my nuclear-radiated roof still has around 30 degrees Celsius worth of heat, I like the air around yours. Plus-"

"That view." I sigh, "God, Em, it's just so beautiful! Suck it all in while you still can! We might not live to see this in our lifetime ever again!"

"Isn't God amazing? Setting out all of this in front of us with only the power of speech, two full days before humanity began!"

"…This again, Em? Really? You know I like the idea but I'm open to-"

"Shh shh shhhhh, let me have my moment okay."

"Whatever floats your boat, I guess…God, I never knew how much I've needed this view in my life…It's a pity that our phone cameras won't capture it all in its glory. So much for a hundred years of iPhones."

"Eduardo would absolutely _kill_ to see this and paint it. Too bad it's-"

"The last time we see the boys here before we…yeah."

Silence falls and stays for what feels like hours, but Em's watch only counts 10 minutes.

Then, I notice it.

A streak of blue-white light zipping by, a moment of 'blink and you'll miss it.'

"Em! Did you see that!"

"Pipe down Cor!" She shushes me, "See what-oh!"

Two!

Three!

Four!

"Shooting stars! This is incredible!"

But Em's staring off into space (pun intended), zoning out and focusing on something that my crappy eyesight and hand-me-down glasses can't pick out right now.

"Up there," She points to a cluster of stars, "The Big Dipper! Remember when we learnt about constellations in kindergarten?"

"Oh yeah! There's the rest of the Great Bear after that, the Little Dipper too!"

"Found those long before you did Cor. Long before you."

"Oh come on, Em!"

"What? You found four shooting stars first, I find those constellations first. It's very fair, plus you have four wishes up your sleeves now. Who knows what you could do with them!"

"Huh. I thought you stopped believing in wishes since we were nine."

"I do right now—gotta take back a couple chances I've missed when I was a kid, huh?"

"True…hey Em?"

"Yeah Cor?"

"Do you…remember the first day we met? In kindy?"

"…Oh yeah! I think so. I was scared that I was gonna have a bad first day and that the other kids would make fun of my skin—I remember being moved from crèche to crèche because the staff were so derogatory to me and my parents. Mind you, this was before-"

"Those holo-classes of Jane Elliott were made compulsory everywhere. But you were pretty young back then—how could you tell on how bad those assholes were to you?"

"One, I was a baby then, they're just really aware and alert of everything, y'know? Two, the subtle tone they used in their voices while speaking to me or my parents was something I picked up on pretty quick. I think it was that faint sense of…distaste, that's it."

"Wow. Anyway, back to kindy…"

"Right. There I was, a scared little kid, unsure if I'm going to suffer on the first day there. But then here comes this other little girl who looks just as scared as me. So I'm thinking, 'why are you scared? You're totally white, doesn't that give you an advantage or something?' But later I would realise that it was because of those cool glasses that she was wearing that she was scared to go in."

"Shut up! Those glasses made me look like a cross between John Lennon and a 1950's nerd!"

"Yeah right! When we made our way into the room together, everyone thought we were the best thing since the invention of the internet!"

"Em, stop exaggerating! But honestly, I'm still a little…oh, I don't know how to put it…giggly over it, I guess. I still get good vibes off it that just make me feel like a kid again for some weird reason."

"Same." Her smile and voice falls as she focuses again on the stars above, "Cora?"

"Yeah Em?"

"D'you think aliens exist? I mean, I don't believe in them – although it is a neat concept – but I'm curious. Do you think they're real?"

"…"

"Well?"

"…I think I'm with you on this one, Em. I can't stop thinking of all the bad things that could come out of it. It is nice, I mean, I would take the chance if it meant Time Lords got to exist-ow! Don't slap my arm because I like Doctor Who!"

"I thought you got over that show ages ago!"

"You wish. Anyway, like I was saying, it's a nice concept, but we really don't have any idea if the majority of alien species would be nice to humanity or not. Then again, we're trying to disprove Edd's claim of meeting Commander Bai if we're talking about it – But I'm still standing with my argument - it's like that 'To Serve Man' episode of the Twilight Zone we watched in English."

"True. Man, it feels like English class and school are like, an entire lifetime behind us, but…it also feels like yesterday at the same time, y'know?" Her smile falls as if it were a feather before her face is molded into mild confusion.

"Whatcha thinking now?"

"Saint Denis of Paris."

"Oh dear god here we go again."

"Just how can the dude have his head chopped off by the guillotine-"

"Em please I don't know how-"

"Then, as if nothing's happened to him, he stands up-"

"Em-"

"Picks up his own head-"

"Emily!"

"And walks ten kilometres while his head is preaching a sermon on repentance?"

"I told you Em, I don't know! I know it's actual saint history, but-"

"It just makes no sense! I get you! But need I mention Moses? Man, that guy was out the planet!"

"Oh, don't get us sobbing all over Prince of Egypt again! We couldn't get over that for three weeks!"

"I was gonna mention the visuals – splitting of the Red Sea, the backgrounds, the burning bush, oh Cor it makes my heart sing! But the plagues that were sent – man! Well, I would've hated to be there at the time, but I would so love to see the raw power of God that was there back then. I don't know how that was possible-"

"But it is."

"Hm?"

"D'you think that sort of thing can happen again? I mean, isn't it the sort of thing that you and your parents believe?"

I'm not challenging her, but curious. However, I actually managed to stun Em silent as she stares thoughtfully out into the stars.

"…I really, really hope so. I know that if it were to happen here, we wouldn't be able to see it here since…but if we make it through tonight alive, then I'll know for sure that my redeemer lives through time and space."

She sounds so sure, so comforted, so calm.

It's my turn to be stunned for a while before I ask her again.

"Em? What do you think the reality of time is?"

"Pardon me?"

"Is time based on fate or free will?"

"Well, since time isn't constant and paradoxes are allowed to happen…hang on, didn't Mrs Johnson ask us that in Studies of Religion once?"

"She's not here now. What do you think?"

Her answer is totally out of the blue.

"I think it's both."

"What?! No way, that's too confusing to think about!"

"I know, but you should take it as a paradox, Cor. It makes sense without an explanation, y'know? That sort of thing."

"Got an example?"

"Moses and the burning bush. I mean, the bush is clearly on fire, but there's nothing of it shrivelling to ashes or smoking whatsoever. When it stops burning, the bush is completely fine."

I'm stumped, no idea how to respond to this. Em just gives me a little smug smirk.

"Emily Brock," I finally manage out, "Singer, dancer, gymnast, and now theologian to add to the ever-growing list!"

She laughs.

"Maybe." She checks her watch, "Ten to eleven. We've been up here for a while."

"D'you wanna head back down?"

She ponders over the question before smirking.

"Nah. The view's too good here. Hey, y'know how I wouldn't shut up about all that existential stuff on how God lives out of time, yet is omnipresent?"

She's made me lose track already, but I nod anyway.

"Since He knows the past, present and future… if someone were to change the past, and effectively the present and future, d'you think He'd still know what the outcome would be like despite the change?"

 _Whoa. That's deep, Em._

I put myself in her shoes and start to think over it. In another part of my mind, I start counting the seconds ticking by.

* * *

About 1800 seconds have passed.

One half-hour.

I've finally got it.

"I think so."

"Huh?"

"I think God would still know the outcome if someone changed the timeline. He knows everything, right? He knows all the possible pasts, presents and futures. So he would know the outcome."

I'm suddenly taken by surprise as Em latches onto me in an abrupt hug.

"Thank you."

"Wha? What for?"

But I find myself…understanding.

How though?

What was she scared about?

The silence rolls over us in waves as I hold her back – giving us enough time to calm her down before I notice the two yellow slow-moving shooting stars.

Hang on.

That's not right.

Shooting stars don't move this slow!

"Jasper's here already?" Em mutters, looking up, "That's some pretty good camouflage for the skyways, to be sure." She glances at her watch, "But he's not due for another 35 minutes! What's he doing here?"

Another thing – he's driving a hovervan, as if he's expecting all our luggage is gonna be in the back.

"What are you two doing up there?" He whispers as the van's motor hums close to us, the doors opening to let us in, "I need to land and make sure the others get in, this is an emergency!"

Uh oh.

Em and I clamber into the middle seats, but instead of taking off into the city, Jasper makes a landing into the street, just as four hoodie-clad figures make their way out of 27, another three button-upped people coming out of 25.

"You're kidding me!" I hiss, "What's happening? What the f-"

"Shh!" Eduardo shushes us as he lumbers in after three of the seven clamber their way to the back and Edd shuffling in past Em to next to me. "The seven of us figured that you two would be losers at this thing alone, so we hooked up with Jasper to drag us in for the ride."

"Plus," Edd adds on, "You're gonna need a little more than just pure luck to get through this if it were just the both of you."

"So…it's like one last adventure?" I manage out.

"But with you two." Tom grins.

"We better get this joyride going though," Jasper announces as the last door closes and clicks of seatbelts are heard, "I came here for an early start, not only to pick up your boys, but I've been hearing rumours of people being held captive at the base."

"Who?" We ask.

"No details just yet, but I have a feeling that one of them is that Larsson boy, Felix or something. There's others too, but no word on them yet."

Felix Larsson, held prisoner by his own father?

No. That doesn't make any sense.

But if it's not his father, then it might be-

"Say your goodbyes, girls." Jasper announces, cutting off my thoughts, "You aren't coming back to this house for a while."

I'd never see the 21st century ever again.

No parents. No uncles, aunts and cousins. No siblings.

At least it's nice knowing I'll always have some sort of family with me.

Edd gives my hand a squeeze before ruffling my hair.

"You ready to head back?"

Yes.

No.

Oh, I don't know.

"No turning back now."

* * *

 **Why 'Heroes' by Alesso and Tove Lo?**

 **To me, it's a song on Cora and Emily's roof musings and them just going deep into their own thoughts, thinking on what could happen in their timelines after being focused on Eagle's Cross for so long. It's the same deal with 'Wings' by Delta Goodrem. I recommend listening to the lyrics to both the songs and applying them to this chapter.**

 **Why 'Skyfall' by Adele?**

 **If we were to put it in the context of this chapter, around about when Jasper arrives to pick up the 9, it's a very foreshadowing song in a sense. 'This is the end, hold your breath and count to ten...For this is the end, I've drowned and dreamed this moment...let the sky fall, when it crumbles, we will stand tall, together! L** **et the sky fall, when it crumbles, face it all, together at skyfall.'**

 **All I can guarantee for the finale for now: it'll be one hell of a ride.**


	21. UPDATE

**Because I rarely give you guys any word on what's going on on tumblr, dA and the outside world.**

 **I've got some good news and bad news.**

 **Let's get the bad stuff out of the way first, okay? I'm gonna have to extend the posting hiatus. For how long? I don't know. But what I can say is that the 13th of May is no longer the posting date for The Leap/Finale Part One, and I ultimately plan to have the story completed and finished by at least the 13th of July, the date I came up with Eagle's Cross in the first place. That doesn't mean that Part Three of the Finale will be out then, but any time before that date would be amazing.**

 **My reasons?**

 **1\. I was rushing into it.**

 **2\. School started up again 2-3 weeks ago - and it's a 10-week term this time.**

 **3\. The originally intended release date is on the same week I have the grade 11 camp - I'll be nearly burnt out by then.**

 **And all of this leads to a severe lack of motivation.**

 **I don't wish to rant, but my editor, readers and myself know that Eagle's Cross is a good story, but I feel like it's so underrated in the fandom. I see things like the amazing Monster Apartments AU on tumblr get so much fanart and headcanons (and I witnessed this from the near-start of it, when Eagle's Cross just had the Finale Prelude out), but for some reason, the lack of fanart and such for the fic kinda makes me feel a bit down and stuck. It's not that I'm uninspired, it's all planned out in my head, but I just wish that it would get the attention it deserves.**

 **If people fave the story, draw the fanart and basically spread the word, I feel like Eagle's Cross, Cora and Emily would be spread through the fandom for a long, long time.**

 **But till then, I've learned from a few mistakes. No announcing chapter dates until they're actually complete. The only promise I can make is that I will have the story done before 13th of July.**

 **But for good news, I'm done with point-plotting with part one of the finale, completed part one of my self-interview (and still await questions from you guys to create a part two), and you all have that extra time of hiatus to complete your fanart for the #EaglesCrossartfart while Editor Toni (Author Espanya on here) and I have that extra week to finish Eagle's Cross with a bang.**

 **Whatever the new release date is for The Leap/Finale Part One, the contest will end 5 days before and it's still gonna end at 9PM AEST. But till then, make sure that you get drawing for the #EaglesCrossArtFart, (mainly on tumblr and dA, although Editor Toni has a twitter and I do not) and to get the questions rolling in to create a part two of my self-interview!**

 **Till then, Author Panda out!**

 **P.S. I may or may not delete this after the art competition has come to a close and The Leap is out.**


	22. UPDATE 2

**Wow. It's been long. Far too long.**

 **You all deserve an explanation from me.**

* * *

 **Okay, the main deal behind my supposed inactivity for Eagle's Cross?**

 **The answer is actually a lot, honestly.**

 **As I write this update right now, I am in Venice, Italy with my family, staying there for the night before we head to Lake Como in Switzerland tomorrow.**

 **And there's still more to come. I have my laptop with me, but the lack of wifi is a bit of an ass most of the time. No wifi = no chance to talk with Editor Toni over the finale, no talking with Editor Toni = not much properly written on my laptop.**

 **(Speaking of her, I also met her IRL a few days back in SG. Yey!)**

 **That reminds me - writing progress, draftings and possible release dates.**

 **WRITING PROGRESS/POSSIBLE RELEASE DATES**

 **Last update, I apologised and tried to make it a goal to release The Leap on 13th July, Cora's birthday. It's the 30th of June right now and there is still very little typed progress. Only up to a certain point in The Leap which I still consider as very early.**

 **That doesn't mean there's little handwritten drafting progress either - I'm actually making the first drafts of the last part of the finale, Part Three/The End…? (I'm actually looking for another name for Part Three - send in whatever suggestions you got!)**

 **But the thing is here, I made a goal and set date for a release I shouldn't have made, considering my present circumstances.**

 **So I've decided on giving no dates out until I can certainly say that it will be released soon. I have a new release date in mind that I haven't even told Editor Toni yet, but I'm not going to announce it so that it will become another unattainable goal.**

 **Actually, I have a couple backup dates too. But again, no announcement of those either.**

 **So, writing progress overall? Slowed down to an extent, but still going. Release dates? Not announcing them until I know I can reach them properly.**

 **DRAFTING**

 **I did ramble on about drafting progress above, but I need to get this out the way.**

 **For a bit of a while, I thought that I could write out the finished finale product of Eagle's Cross using the one first draft in my notebook.**

 **Boi, was I wrong.**

 **Re-reading it all over again has made me realise that yes, there needs to be a rewrite done. This means that most of The Leap, all of The Fall and possibly even all of Part Three will need a redraft so it can be cleaned up and make sense. And possibly add more suffering too but what do you know.**

 **Anyway, I have a few minor things to announce before I sign this update off.**

 **I'm going ahead with the art contest again, and yes, I have the prizes, theme, rules and closing date for all of that.**

 **This art contest is all about Cora's Birthday or the One Year Anniversary of the Creation of Eagle's Cross.**

 **The closing date, therefore, will be on 6th July, 9PM AEST, a week before Cora's birth date. That isn't much time.**

 **Editor Toni and I will be judges of the comp (Sorry this is so late and sudden Amiga), and we'll accept anything for it, traditional or digital. Just as long as Cora and Emily, or one of the girls are in it. Have yourself or your OC hanging with them, have one of the crewmembers with them, hell, you can even redraw a favourite moment from the story so far!**

 **However, there are a few don'ts to this all.**

 **-Shipping isn't allowed**

 **-Excessive gore/medium gore. I can take in a bunch of cuts and bruises, but anything above is too much. (However, if you can make pixel gore - if you do the near-start of chapter 13 - I'll probably love you forever.)**

 **-no fetishes**

 **-Nothing too NSFW - Editor Toni and I don't want to kinkshame you for this. Swearing ain't allowed either. Unless it's Tord swearing in Norwegian tbh.**

 **With all this out the way, I can go on to the prizes!**

 **Everyone who enters the comp will be in the draw to be referenced in the Finale, including those in 3rd, 2nd and 1st places. Names will be randomly selected with a randomiser.**

 **3rd Place - Special thanks in the special thanks area after the story's done.**

 **2nd Place - 3rd, + anything Eagle's Cross-related will be drawn by me for you - I don't mind if it's a poster or a moment from the story, I'll do it digitally. Just…no shipping or anything that I'll end up kinkshaming.**

 **1st Place - 3rd + 2nd, and a very exclusive sneak peek at what Editor Toni and I have for the finale so far.**

 **We'll be tracking the art with the tag #EaglesCrossArtFart on dA or tumblr and announce the winners of the comp on the 13th, although do keep in mind that some prizes will take a while to come in due to circumstances with me.**

 **Okay, that's all I have to say.**

 **Till the next time,**

 **Panda Out.**

 **EDIT: So apparently not many people are entering the comp, so I am going to extend the dates to those willing to join.**

 **The new date for the comp to close is gonna 3 days before July ends - the 29th, AEST, still 9pm.**

 **Add a week onto that and the announcement date will be the 5th August, Australian time.**

 **(Oh hey - the new date's on a Friday - the usual update day back when I aCTUALLY HAD MOTIVATION)**


	23. FINAL UPDATE ON HERE

**Well. It's 29th July, 2016.**

 **Nearly next to nobody has entered the art contest, and any promises of the finale…are very very far.**

 **On the bright side, I feel like I'm getting closer and closer to the goal of finishing the first draft of the Finale's third part (which I feel like 'The End…?' is a lame title tbh), but looking over my first drafts for The Leap (Part One) and The Fall (Part Two)…it's messy. It needs a cleanup.**

 **Not only that, but I've been looking back in the word document I have for Eagle's Cross in general and well…I'm thinking of a minor revision of it. Mainly to fix up grammar, tenses and sentences of course, but also to repair a few plot holes and bring better characterisation to the story.**

 **But something new has come in mind for Eagle's Cross, concerning a pretty large plothole in the story that I'm surprised everyone's brushed away, including myself.**

 **I haven't told Editor Toni about this yet (even though we have met for a second time on my way home from Europe) since this is just recent, but what I'm mentally planning so far involves…a fair few things, which admittedly involve Cora's older twin siblings, Ed and Ell.**

 **What for? Not telling. Yet.**

 **But the whole point I'm trying to get across to you readers that I'm planning to have a minor start over on the story.**

 **I want Eagle's Cross to be one of the best Eddsworld fanfiction that's out there, on a regular update schedule and a brilliant bang of a finish when it's time for pens down.**

 **It's still not done yet – and I'm pretty annoyed that it isn't.**

 **But despite life in general right now, I'm determined to get this story done for once and for all. However, of course, it will take a while.**

 **My plan is to have the redone/added-on prologue out by 8th October AEST, the same date I originally planned to post the promo art week by week, but got too excited for. At least, that's the basic goal. I can't really promise that it'll be out again by that date. I can't give any exact dates on posting schedules, but the rate of which I'm writing, I might change it to a chapter once every two or three weeks instead of the one.**

 **Okay, I've been rambling a bit. I need to get the details out.**

 **What will happen in the Genuine Hiatus of EGC:**

 **-No contests**

 **-No self-interviews, which means that you can't ask questions for me to read out and respond to any more.**

 **-No promises on chapter posting.**

 **I intend to restart Eagle's Cross afresh on its own new spot in here, in a fresh folder in dA, and new chapters under the tag 'Revised!Story' for the tumblr blog, themysteryofeaglescross . tumblr. com (just nix the spaces.)**

 **I've also got plans that mainly involve the blog, such as weekly photo updates on my writing progress, little thoughts here and there on headcanons, and answering any questions you might have on posts. Which means no activity on here or dA.**

 **So with the final chapter here in the original version (in which I will keep up for those feeling nostalgic), wish me and Editor Toni luck on fixing up and repairing the entirety of Eagle's Cross!**

 **-Author Panda out.**


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